The Legend of Zelda: Facade of the Living
by Lord Augustus
Summary: A burgeoning empire faces its possible downfall. True hope lies in the Legendary One who wields the power of evil's bane. Dark plots must be revealed to all the Lords of Hyrule and the people's illusion of peace replaced with real clarity...
1. PAIN

_-Heroes rarely have time to rest. War, peace, and day-to-day life bring no end to the varied struggles and challenges they face. Daring deeds are done with valor and bravery, and with that comes fame, and with luck, maybe even a bit of fortune. _

_Even those things can be a challenge in and of themselves, but heroes must shine no matter what burdens fall upon their shoulders._

_But what can anybody really learn from any one such hero, or company of heroes? What drives them to do the things they do? What motivates them to risk their lives for the sake of others? Is it patriotism, coupled with a sense of duty or honor? Could it be loyalty to an abstract cause or to their fellow man? _

_What about faith? What about destiny? Surely these must play a role in some way, shape, or form._

_Could it be, ultimately, love that drives these men and women to push forward through suffering and hardship?_

_All these questions, of course, are empty speculation, for we're sure, as you know, that actions speak louder than words..._

The Legend of Zelda: Facade of the Living

By: Lord Augustus and ShadowWolfX

_**Chapter One: HERO**_

**-In a dank, long forgotten prison cell, somewhere in the eastern mountains…-**

**Waking from his terrible nightmare**, a male prisoner grasped vainly for his bedside. The stone floor that served as his bedchamber, as well as his bathroom, was as cold as the icy glaciers of the northern lands. All he could truly remember was a sharp blow to the back of the head, then blackness, followed by a period of some time of weaving in and out of consciousness, staying awake long enough only to eat and perhaps be assaulted. Reaching up to his face, he gingerly tested the sore spots and welts where his guards had beaten him in days past and found them to be healing, though a dull ache in his head, and indeed most of his body, persisted. The only purpose now to the guards' visits was to feed him a mushy gruel once a day, along with a side dish of stale bread, and to sling general insults his way in a barbarous tongue.

The man touched his long, slender, pointed ears and began to rub them, a technique that often calmed the nerves of his species. Slowly, his bloodshot eyes became adjusted to the dim light of his surroundings, and he could make out the flat gray stone walls and the black iron bars of his cell.

He then realized that his dream had come true; he had been captured and was thrown into this dungeon by the forces of the evil Gorkhan. The new King of the Gerudo, a race of black-hearted human pirates and theives, had managed to have him abducted, beaten, and robbed. The man did not know exactly where he was, or exactly how he had been brought there, but he knew that his escape was the top priority of the moment.

The prisoner searched frantically for his sword, as he did every time he was awakened, but could not come across it, as always.

_"Well, of course they took my weapons,"_ he thought. _"It'd be stupid of them not to. Hmm…but look on the bright side. If you turn a well sideways you have a tunnel…"_

Believe it or not, a fairy had given him that little anecdote. If he could reflect upon it, he might somehow find a way to escape.

Looking down at himself, the young man noticed that his once splendid green tunic was torn in many places. The enemy had taken his chain-mail undershirt long ago, and he'd last seen it in the hands of his monstrous guards, squabbling over it like a prize of war. He found himself now covered in dirt and his own dry blood, and his thin, brownish-blonde hair was soiled and matted. Barely mustering the energy to sit up, the prisoner tried to think of a way to extricate himself from the situation. The back wall of the cell was composed of bare, grey stone bricks, and from that, the other three walls were solid iron bars, old and rusted on the outside, but still sturdy and strong on the inside. There was only a single, barred window slit letting in a weak stream of cloudy white light somewhere in another part of the room which held the prisoner. .

Shaking off his confusion, the man stood, picking up the sound of footsteps against the floor.

Just then a shadow loomed from the brightness of the hallway. The prisoner prepared himself for the worst and got ready to attack. When he laid eyes upon a boy, perhaps only a few years younger than he was, walking down the corridor, he became confused once again. Dressed only in a raggedy shirt with a hood that obscured his features, he was probably another prisoner, but the man failed to see any guards with him.

Suddenly, the man came to a realization.

This boy was a Sheikah, one of the shadow people of the eastern mountains.

There was no denying it any longer, as the boy quickly pulled off his hood, revealing the rest of his face. Slightly shorter than he was, the boy had an unkempt shock of stringy whitish hair that fell down over his face. His penetrating eyes were an unexpected color, deep crimson red, typical of the Sheikah, but seldom seen in the rest of Hyrule's population.

In his hands, he held both a small knife and a long, double edged broadsword. The knife appeared to be well kept and quite sharp, but still clearly a common thief's dagger. However, the sword blade gleamed brightly in the scarce light. The handle was of made of a blue silver, and the blade was a deadly length of solid steel.

Spoken of in legends, this had to be the Master Sword, the one and only Blade of Evil's Bane. Supposedly, according to some scholars, the steel itself radiated with the holy power of the Goddesses and the Ancient Sages. In the hands of the one destined to wield it, the sword would always have a gentle glow about it that seemed to grow brighter in times of adversity.

At this point, considering the misery of the situation, it should have been lit like a torch in the blackness. Unfortunately, the person who possessed it at the moment was clearly not the individual chosen by the gods to wield the sword against the forces of evil.

Indeed, the boy seemed to be having great trouble even holding the sword. It appeared as if the blade was incredibly heavy, and he dragged the tip across the floor, unable to bring it any higher than his shins. Still, the boy plodded on, pulling the blade behind him, clearly looking for something, or someone.

Suddenly, the male prisoner made an exclamation from the darkness, visibly startling the boy, who jumped a full foot and a half in the air in surprise.

"Hey, kid, come here! Let me see that sword you have!" the prisoner whispered as loudly as he could without being too noisy, hoping for a reply. "I'm over here!"

The boy's face turned from one of caution to one of suspicion as he whirled to face the source of the voice. He located it, and sauntered up to the iron bars and laughed aloud at the man behind them.

"You think I'm gonna give a common criminal this sword? This is the legendary Master Sword! Only the Legendary Hero can use it," he retorted, starting to walk away. "It weighs at least a million pounds. You couldn't lift it if you tried, so shut up before you get us both caught! I have work to do!"

"But I _am_ he! Listen, hand me the sword and I'll show you," replied the prisoner, hoping for some mercy.

"Out of the question! You could be anybody! Why would I let someone like you touch something as sacred as this?"

"I ask because I can prove it to you. Do you have no compassion for the downtrodden?"

For a moment, the Sheikah was left speechless. He didn't have time to be diverted from his mission, but this fellow, clearly a Hylian by the look of him, had an sense of genuine sincerity on his face and in his eyes that he could not resist.

"Let us say that you are at least lucky that I am Sheikah, and not Gerudo," the boy said in a smug tone. "It will be worth it to see you pull a muscle trying to lift the blade."

Interested by this wretch who was claiming to be a hero, the boy warily handed him the sword as best he could, dragging the tip along the floor until he could rest the handle against a bar of the prisoner's cell. In his mind, the Sheikah couldn't quite believe the way this random prisoner had spoken to him, as if the boy were the one locked inside with no hope of seeing the light of day again. The young boy gripped his dagger a little tighter, ready to stab the man in the green tunic at a moment's notice.

As soon as the Master Sword's handle was pressed into the Hylian man's palm the incredible weight was gone. The razor sharp blade glowed with a brilliant blue light that briefly illuminated the room and outshone the meager torchlight of the dungeon. Bringing the blade through the bars, the man took two steps back, brought the blade up high over his shoulder, and swung it down in a wide arc, effectively slicing all the iron bars in two.

The green clad warrior swiftly kicked the door with the heel of his boot, and when the hinges came undone, it toppled over, barely missing his new friend.

Slamming hard onto the stone floor, it threw up a great billowing cloud of dust that took quite some time to settle. Afterward, the boy had a look of pure astonishment on his face.

"_You...you're Link!_" he exclaimed. "I don't believe it, _you're_ the Legendary One?"

Like a figure out of ancient history, the man stepped out of the cell and he and the boy wasted no time in departing the blackened dungeon room for the brightness of the nearby torchlit corridor. His hair, once very fair, had changed over the years, and had more shades of brown than it once did. To an observer, he was tall for a Hylian, and muscular enough for his age, and despite the bruises on his face, he remained ruggedly handsome. His cobalt eyes were heavy with suffering and much toil, although underneath it was an inner softness that could not be easily explained.

Truly, this man was the Legendary Hero spoken of in legends.

"Didn't I say so?" Link replied. "Of course, you didn't take my word right away, but I don't blame you for it."

To show his respect and to apologize, the Sheikah took a step backwards and bowed at the waist.

"Forgive me, Master Link," said the boy, obviously more than a little awestruck. "I was sent to find you, but at the rate I was going I did not think I would ever do so. My apologies for not recognizing you when I had the chance to."

The hero did little more than smile back at the Sheikah.

"Honestly, don't worry about it. I know I'm not lookin' real good right now. Forget everything else and tell me who sent you to…" Link began before being interrupted by a tremendous thundering noise.

Before the hero could even finish another thought, a rampaging, bloodthirsty group of Death Knights entered into the corridor.

Seven feet tall, and fully covered with black armor, these evil, dog faced creatures were the scum of the earth. They were originally simple Moblins, who were bipedal, anthropomorphic, dark-hearted creatures by themselves, but no more so than any of the other evil minions sent out to cause pain and suffering to the people of Hyrule. However, these creatures had been pushed even further into darkness by a will infinitely greater than their own. Immensely powerful, they could snap a man in half as if he were a toothpick. The fact that they carried broadswords the size of elephant tusks didn't help the matter.

The situation turned grim as the boy and escaping hero were noticed. There were twelve of the monsters standing shoulder to shoulder in rows of two in the relatively confined space of the hallway, meaning that if they charged, the Hylian and the Sheikah would certainly be mowed down.

Link held his sword high as the young boy spun his dagger, waiting for the battle to commence. Before the boy could say or do anything, the hero grabbed a hold of him and ran away from the knights towards the termination point of the corridor, a flat, grey stone wall no different from any other in the dungeon.

"It's a _dead end!_ Why bother running if we're gonna fight anyway?" yelled the boy as he was being pulled, his warrior spirit not wanting to be silenced.

"No time for that," replied the Hylian tersely. "Those who fight and run away will live to fight another day!"

As Link said this, he was already in the process of slashing his glowing sword at the stone wall. When he kicked it like he had the cell door, it quickly fell to pieces, revealing the absence of ground below. The only things visible were the air and a murky fog which seemed to extend forever upward into the sky, but below was the unmistakeable sound of running water.

The hero gripped the boy firmly by the arm and they dove out of the strange castle into the abyss where itseemed to take forever to fall, and everything was moved in slow motion. Minutes seemed to go by, though not really, and they still plummeted toward the ground, which they still couldn't see clearly at all.

Link turned his head to his new friend, who was absolutely terrified.

"Everything's gonna be okay!" the Hylian screamed at the top of his lungs.

The boy didn't seem to care. Besides wondering if he would life to see the next sunrise, he was really only interested in one thing.

"How'd you do that?" he asked as loud as he could. "Didn't think stuff like that was possible!"

"Isn't usually!" Link yelled back. "I used magic energy to charge the sword!"

"You can control magic!" the boy exclaimed. "That's incredible! I'm Jaden, of the Sheikah!"

"Nice to meet you Jaden, my name is Link!"

"I know that already! Worry about the crocodiles when we finally hit the river!"

"Good idea kid!"

In actuality, only several seconds later, the man and the boy connected with what was at the bottom of the cliff face. With an absolutely tremendous and body-quaking splash, Link and Jaden landed in the cloudy waters of the river. After a good half-minute, the two surfaced, and congratulated themselves on a genius breakout. Naturally it would go down in the history books as one of the most daring escapes ever.

Unfortunatly, nobody saw them get away except the crocodiles, of which there were actually only a few, in the end.

Life isn't all about fame, after all.

**-At the bottom...**

**Looking around** as he floated in the muddy water, Link made a rough guess as to where they might be. High above him at the edge of a cliff was the tower they had just leaped from. It was ancient and very dilapidated, with the north wall gone completely, though he guessed that might now be the one he had just kicked down.

A swiftly flowing river current was now carrying them quietly, but roughly downstream.

Link turned his head to his new friend, who bobbed up and down next to him in the water.

"Everything's gonna be okay!" the Hylian exclaimed.

The boy didn't seem to care. Besides wondering if he would life to see the next sunrise, he was really only interested in one thing.

"How'd you do that?" he asked as loud as he could. "Didn't think stuff like that was possible!"

"Isn't usually!" Link yelled back. "I used magic energy to charge the sword!"

"You can control magic!" the boy exclaimed. "That's incredible! I'm Jaden, of the Sheikah!"

"Nice to meet you Jaden, my name is Link!"

"I know that already! Worry about the crocodiles when we finally hit the calm waters!"

"Good idea kid!"

He realized that they were swimming in one of the Zora River's tributaries that flowed northeast of Hyrule. That meant they were somewhere in the vicinity of Death Mountain, the largest of the volcanic peaks in that part of the country. If Link and the boy started off now, they might be able to make it back to Hyrule City in perhaps only a few days.

As the two of them pulled their soaked forms from the murky waters, Jaden started to frantically ask questions on how Link could possibly have been captured. The endless line of questioning never received any answers from the Hylian, as the Sheikah frequently answered his own queries, or interjected with an exclamation of how brave and daring a hero Link was. Quickly starting to get annoyed by these questions, Link waited for few moments of silence where he would have the chance to turn the tables and annoy Jaden.

Maybe it would make the boy go away, or so Link had hoped, but this never came to pass.

They started into the dark forest that grew on and around the mountain range. It would be another long journey that would take its toll on both the body and the mind, and thankfully, the boy's questioning had come to a welcome halt as they traversed a rather steep bit of terrain. Of course, no more then five minutes of venturing into the forest proper Jaden burst out in another outburst of knowledge seeking.

"Where are we going?"

"What are we doing?"

"When are we gonna get back?"

"What's your favorite color?"

Although the boy began to utter another few syllables, he abruptly stopped and showed no signs of explaining why.

Link started to turn, and as soon as he did, was shocked to see the boy held in place by an enormous, brawny set of arms. A light brown, and covered in mineral growths, they were attached to an enormous Goron, easily nine and a half feet tall, one of the race of rock people who lived in and around these mountains. The Goron had no trouble restraining the boy, and upon his face was an emotionless look of solemn duty. Nimbly balancing himself atop his flat-topped head stood a Deku Scrub, a member of the sapient plant-like races of the forests and swamps. He was tiny, and perhaps would come up only to Link's hip had he been standing upon the ground, but unlike his Goron compatriot, he wore a look of considerable malice, visible by the down-turned shape of his circular mouth and the furrowing of his brow.

The Deku had his barbed hookshot, a spring-powered chain weapon with a pointed grapple at the end, aimed at Jaden's head, while the giant rock man had his hand over the boy's mouth to stop him from screaming. Jaden had been abducted so quickly that the hero didn't even notice it, which had the side effect of making him second guess himself, something he never liked to do.

Link held his sword at the ready, and as it glimmered in the sun, reflecting brilliant flashes of color from the silver steel, he caught sight of the Goron's hammer. It was considerably massive, with two enormous flat faces that made the weapon look like a wine barrel stuck on the end of a short, but heavy spear. To be hit by it would surely mean a painful, squishy death, as although Gorons were notorious for being slow, but they were gifted with the most mind boggling strength.

To add to this, their rock toughened skin was close to impenetrable, and might have proved a match even for the Master Sword.

"Hey now! Let the boy go and I won't hurt you!" Link threatened, not really knowing if he could free the boy.

Link watched as the Scrub very slowly lowered his hookshot, perhaps backing down as a result of his threat. The Goron refused to let go of Jaden, however, and only gripped him tighter. With an enormous smile, he showed his gigantic, peg-like teeth. The young Sheikah soon turned blue and passed out, and the rock man let him fall to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Quite unexpectedly, the Goron burst out into a fit of laughter, causing the hero to become very irritated. Link always prided himself on having a good sense of humor, but nothing about this new situation was at all amusing to him.

Just as the Legendary Hero was about to charge into battle, his ears picked up a sound coming from the trees, the sound of something hard and weighty flying through the air at high speed.

As Link fell to the ground at the feet of his attackers, the lump already forming on the back of his head, one of the last things he saw was a fleeting glance of the Zora woman who had nailed him.

Through his pain and clouded vision, he was able to see one final detail about his enemies, the strange tattoos on their shoulders.

**-Some time later-**

**As Link woke up**, he immediately feared that he was back in his dungeon cell awaiting the horrible execution fitting for an escapee, but when his eyes adjusted, he found himself unchained. There were no bars here and apparently no way to keep him from leaving.

Better yet, his sword had been wrapped in a neat cloth and laid beside him. Someone had also had the foresight to supply him with a baldric, a strong leather belt that he could use to strap the sword to his back. He took hold of the blade itself and withdrew it from its new sheath, exhaling in relief when he saw that the Blade of Evil's Bane was in no way damaged.

When Link returned the blade to the cloth, something miraculous happened. Right before the hero's eyes the simple linen sheath changed into something completely different. It widened a bit first, then lengthened more and suddenly became hard, strong wood. The wood then turned a deep shade of blue, upon which a clear varnish appeared, followed by several brilliant gold fittings.

The linen cloth had become the True Scabbard of the Master Sword.

Of course, while the transformation had been visually stunning, it did not surprise Link. In his own free time, he had studied many of Hyrule's ancient legends, among those, the ones that pertained to the mystical powers of the Master Sword's sheath. If one sheath was lost or destroyed, the blade needed only to be placed in another, simpler one, and that one would then become the true scabbard.

All these things left the Hylian's mind in an instant when his sensitive ears picked up movement.

"Who's there? Show yourself, _fiend!_" the hero yelled as he saw a dark shadow loom from the corner.

He grabbed his sword as Jaden walked into the room carrying a bowl of fresh fruit and a jug of cider for him.

"_Whoa!_ Master Link, I get that you're always ready for battle, but this is ridiculous. I'm not gonna kill you," said the boy.

The Hylian huffed at that, and stared the boy down, letting him know silently that he should never sneak up on an armed and jumpy hero before speaking again.

"My apologies, I'm just a little bit confused still. Where are we now?" Link asked as he returned the Master Sword to its scabbard.

"I'll explain after you eat and recover your strength. While I'm here, I'm gonna get something to eat myself. You want anything?"

The hero shook his head no, and with that, the Sheikah disappeared back into the shadows from whence he came.

After Jaden left, the daylight seemed to penetrate the darkness a little more. Link, now being able to see more of his surroundings, started to look over the moss-covered walls. He seemed to find himself in a damp cave cut into the mountainside. It had been dug out by running water over eons to fit the likes of perhaps three Gorons stacked on top of each other.

There was straw thrown about here and there on the floor, either to soak up water or to be a cheap form of carpeting. Wooden boxes of supplies and other artifacts of sapient habitation were scattered around the chamber, and it appeared that this part of the the cave was some sort of a storage area. It didn't matter though, as Link could make neither heads nor tails of any of it at the time, and he walked around in a circle in the space to test his legs. Finding them to be in working order, he began an exploration of the area.

As Link surveyed his surroundings, the smell of cider and fruit made its way to his nose and he could not bear not to resist.

He located a crate of assorted fruits and grabbed the nearest thing he could get his hands on, which ended up being a vaguely cylindrical piece of fruit. It had the overall shape of a banana, but was a very odd shade of red, and even through the skin it managed to smell deliciously sweet to the hero's nose. As he peeled it, it opened up into a flower-like petal and seeds poured out of the sides.

Link then noticed a tall, clear glass bottle, filled to the brim with some sort of red liquid that he could not immediately identify.

"What is all of this?" he said to himself as he raised the bottle. He brought it to his nose and took a whiff of it. To his surprise, it had a very syrupy smell to it, so he brought the cup to his lips and took a sip.

He took one but drink and immediately his body felt rejuvenated.

Many of the painful wounds on his person instantly closed up and scarred over. As the liquid coated his stomach, his splitting headache finally went away, leaving him clear-headed and very lucid.

Pulling himself to his feet, Link was ready to investigate the strange cavern.

With his body feeling fresh and his sense of curiosity screaming, he walked in the direction he had seen Jaden go a few minutes before. He was crunching on some of the seeds from the banana fruit, which seemed to contain a sort of chewy, sugary, gum-like substance, when he heard voices down a hall that seemed to lead into another chamber.

He peeked around the corner to see the three people who had attacked him conversing with each other.

"Yes it is Link! I know it is! The blade does not lie. It is the Master Sword of legend!" said the Goron.

"_No way!_ You mean _the_ Link is here?" the impish Scrub exclaimed.

"Yes, it seems to me that we have indeed found who we were looking for, doesn't it?" the Zora woman said, looking thoughtful. "But do you think he will help us? I mean, I did throw a rock at his head, after all."

"Well, it's not like you _stabbed_ the guy!" yelled the excited little Deku Shrub. "It was...small enough. No lasting damage. Just to stun him, ya know?."

The Zora woman sighed and held her head in her hands and asked herself why the Deku had to be so difficult?

"Use your little wooden brain Dreck! Do you think he knows that?" she shot back at him.

It was at this point, seemingly as if on cue, that Link decided to emerge from his little hiding space. With his trusty sword in hand, he was positive there was nothing they could do this time to injure him, but he nevertheless warily stepped forward

"At least I'm still alive," he said as he nonchalantly strolled from around the corner. "I'm certainly thankful to you for that."

The Zora, Goron and Deku were all startled by his sudden arrival. All three of them rushed at once to greet him in a grovelling, awestruck horde.

"Master Link! I _must_ apologize if I've injured you. I mean Dreck and Gonga thought that the only way a man of your status and fame would talk to us would be for us to...incapacitate you," said the Zora, apologizing.

The hero suddenly felt like he could use a drink, or two, and ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture of frustration.

"I've been incapacitated enough over the past few days. A bit of consciousness would be nice," Link asked, sighing heavily. "Who exactly are you people? I don't think I ever got your names."

First the proud Goron stepped forward. On his shoulder rested the giant war-hammer, presumably for smashing things into oblivion and maybe a bit for show. His size was truly impressive, almost twice Link's height, and he had a thick beard encrusted with minerals, as most elder Goron men did. Aside from this, his eyes were a chestnut color and he wore only a simply loincloth, as was the custom among the people of the mountains, and perhaps because Gorons had no weave-working skills of which to speak of. Clothes were nearly anathema to them, as it told others, according to their philosophy, that were trying to hide something, and above all the mountain folk praise honesty and straightforwardness.

"I am Gonga! Proud warrior of the Goron race," he proclaimed loudly. "I am honored to meet you, and hope to soon call you friend."

His earth-shaking voice didn't seem to affect the young Hylian in any way. Despite his volume, the rock eating man gave off a sense of jolliness, and no longer did he strike any particular dread into Link's heart.

Next, the tiny Deku Scrub took a step forward. Despite being only two and a half feet tall, he exuded an aura of confidence that more than accommodated for his lack of height. A wide brimmed straw hat was upon his head and it concealed a head of what appeared to be brown leaves and wooden textures, leaving little to no contrast between his face and his hat, of which the former consisted only of his red eyes and circular mouth. He was clothed in a small dark blue tunic, like one that a small child would wear, fastened at the waist by a leather belt. On his little belt swung what appeared to be a hookshot. This one was different however, as the ends were tipped with many razor-sharp spikes.

"Yes, they call me Dreck. It's my name, and I'd ask you not to wear it out," he said in a voice fitting his stature.

Again, Link wasn't impressed, but he gave the Deku a courteous nod of approval anyway. The Deku's size and squeaky voice didn't exactly instill mortal fear in him, but he knew better than to trust first impressions.

Lastly, the Zora woman stepped forward. She was thin, with turquoise colored eyes, and rather shapely, as much as a female member of a species that evolved from fish can be. Interestingly, she was clad in the most leather out of the three of them, her brown top supporting her chest well, but leaving her arms and her midriff bare, though in a tasteful way. Her pants were leather as well, and tightly fitting, though worn in, and they did not seem to affect her mobility in any way. All this hide provided striking contrast to her skin, which was a myriad of several different kinds of blue, and in certain places, she had scales like a fish, and they caught the light at times when she moved, making the Zora woman seem as if she were of many colors all at once.

Link was instantly hesitant, and scrutinized her the most. He'd had enough experiences with Zora women in the past, and few of them were pleasant. He could theorize that she was the one who had shot him, as she had a bow and a quiver full of arrows strapped to her backside.

"My name is Zetalyn'fendura'shanai vab Zora" she said, her tone suddenly laced with annoyance. "You may call me Zeta, if that's what you wish."

The hero had been staring at her for a full ten seconds, and she was clearly unsure if he had been eying her up or not. Link smiled and scratched his head nervously, as he didn't quite know how exactly to respond.

"Ahh, pleasure to meet you…" he carefully said. "I'll keep that in mind."

The woman nodded to him, and turned her head to the right as the Sheikah boy Jaden, stumbled, into view. He had, of course, been eavesdropping on their conversation. The young man stumbled around for a minute before tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground. After wiping himself off, Jaden picked up the jar of cider he had dropped, stood up, and pointed a crooked finger in the direction of the group.

"Are you people _ever_ gonna pay me?" the youth asked in a cocky tone. "I found him, got him his sword back, brought him to you, and then you pull this? You knock him unconscious, drag him here, then keep him unguarded and let him wake up with his weapon at his side? You people are amateurs. Why should he believe anything you all are about to say?"

The others sighed and shook their heads and backed off a few steps as Link stood looking puzzled, giving the Hylian a moment to compose himself. The boy certainly needed to learn a little respect, and a sense of balance, but besides that all, Jaden did have a good point. Just as Link was about to argue that point and resume the conversation, he changed course when something suddenly caught his eye.

"What does that symbol mean?" he inquired, pointing to a cloth tapestry on the damp wall. "I've seen it in some taverns here and there, but you three have got it on your shoulders."

Permanently tattooed on each of their shoulders were mysterious emblems. They somewhat resembled the scarlet phoenix symbol used by the Royal Family of Hyrule, however the wings of the bird were huge, wrapping around their upper arms like a decorative bracelet.

"It is the sign of our free companies. We are the elite, the strong, the fierce, the brave. We are the Renegades!" the small Deku said with a great measure of pride in his voice.

The young Hylian quickly narrowed his eyes at the group in front of him. He had heard many tales of the Renegades in his travels, and knew quite well that they were mercenaries for hire, soldiers of fortune so to say. These three even looked seedy, but he could tell they had been through many ordeals and had a relationship between them all that could only be forged in the heat of battle. He could tell from their eyes too, as well as the way they carried themselves, that they had not always been on the side of justice and order.

"You see, we used to work for a man named Gorkhan," the large Goron said. "He's the new Gerudo king. He often hired us to eliminate resistance and take out rebellious groups within his domain."

"There's other tribes what live in his big ol' desert, and not all of 'em wanted to worship him as a god," Dreck continued. "He didn't wanna waste any of his pretty harem warrior girls on them, so he had us squash anything from whispered rumors of rebellion to active resistance. It wasn't pretty, or even halfway honorable, but the pay was excellent."

Link nodded, listening intently to the tale. He crossed his arms instinctively, and raised an eyebrow while pursing his lips.

"After a while, though we started to realize that these other groups were right in trying to take Gorkhan out," Zeta said solemnly. "This guy is insane, and kills and maims people for his own _demented pleasure!_ He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants, which is obviously all of Hyrule. We've tried to stop him, but by the time we were ready to attack, he had found out our plans through a leak in the organization."

The Zora spoke with an odd tone, as if she had once been the leader of a much larger group then just the three of these misfits. As if to answer the question in Link's mind the Deku spoke up.

"Yeah, we used to be many, but now we are few. We were betrayed by General Treb," he said.

The Shiekah boy chimed in unexpectedly, waving his arms to get everyone's attention.

"I know that name!" Jaden said, sounding knowledgeable. "Antono Finnaeus Treb, hero and villain of the Hyrulean Civil War. He pretended to be a part of the Renegades, and was even in on the assassination plot, but he turned out to be the Gorkhan's right hand man didn't he? In the end, Treb betrayed you all and you fell into his trap."

Zeta and Dreck appeared to be shocked, and Link was confused again by this revelation, but it was the jolly Goron who became irate.

"How did you know that, boy?" Gonga growled through clenched teeth. "Have _you_ been one of _his_ agents all along?"

The boy managed to feign looking hurt by the accusation long enough to come back with a witty retort.

"Never!" he exclaimed. "I simply read my history books, and Sheikah know a lot of hidden things about hidden things that would surprise most people."

Jaden said this with a knowing tone to his voice, and Gonga backed down, but not before using two fingers to let the boy know that he'd be watching him closely.

Link steered the conversation back to its original topic, tapping his foot impatiently as he did so.

"Listen, while I'm thankful to you all for arranging my rescue," said the hero, "I'm still not sure what it is you even want me to do."

Nodding quickly amongst themselves, the Renegades quickly convened a council. They stood in a small circle, with Jaden and Link on the outside not participating. and discussed in hushed tones the small details of the plan and how they would accomplish it. It was a rather animated affair, with lots of heavy gesturing and arm flailing, and for the first time, Link was more amused than frustrated or annoyed.

When they were finished, the Zora, the Deku, and the Goron approached the hero and set forth their case.

"We ask you, humbly, Master Link, to help us rid the world of Ganondorf's successor," the tiny Dreck said.

"Please, help us destroy him, so that our brothers and sisters in arms may know peace in the afterlife," Zetalyn pleaded. "Help us to destroy him before his evil spreads."

"And restore the balance of good and evil that has been protected by you on so many occasions," said the big Gonga.

For a good moment or two, Link could do nothing but digest everything he had just heard. He let the information and their requests stir around in his brain for half a minute, allowing the whole concoction of outcomes and possibilities percolate. Turning over his left hand, Link glanced at the mark of the Triforce of Courage. It had been several years at that point since he had really scrutinized it and what it meant. Though his understanding of it was limited, and its ultimate purpose in the grand scheme of things was nebulous to him, it had still never steered him wrong in his life, and had given him the resolve to save the world on more than one occasion.

He felt the warm glow in his hand as he lifted his head and smiled.

That smile faded when he thought about what the new Gerudo king could do to the land of Hyrule. At the very least, there would be war, and there had been precious few generations in Hyrule that had never been touched by it. Link didn't know what his power was, but if this Gorkhan character was anything like Ganondorf, then darkness would soon enshroud the kingdom.

There was perhaps one more person who could be of great help to their cause.

"Okay, I'm in," the Legendary Hero said, "but first…I must gain an audience with Princess Zelda."

**End Chapter One**

_**Proceed to Chapter Two**_


	2. JEWEL

_-On a relatively small, unknown, rocky planet orbiting a fairly ordinary star, great events that could decide the fates of its inhabitants are beginning to unfold._

_Created and blessed by the Three Goddesses, this world has a special place unlike any other in the galaxy._

_Tucked away behind mountains and hemmed in by forests and rivers, it is a naturally peaceful, naturally beautiful place. The people who live there are also special in many ways, and live in harmony and grace._

_This great, bountiful land is known to all as Hyrule. Its power, glory, and prosperity are the awe of the entire world. _

_One man controls it, protects it, and guides it toward even greater heights, the indomitable sovereign King of Hyrule. The lands and provinces under his authority are vast and wide-ranging, and all in them swear everlasting fealty to him and his Royal Family._

_Over the years, one by one, stunning military victories and political alliances brought the surrounding countryside, and almost everything beyond it, into his realm, turning what was once a small kingdom into a mighty empire._

_His children stand to inherit this empire, to rule it justly as all the kings and queens have have in the past, and to make it grow far beyond what it is, and to keep the current trend of peaceful relations with all people under the Royal Family's rule._

_But peace is a fleeting thing, never truly permanent. It has been said that peace is not necessarily the absence of war, but the presence of justice... _

__

_**Chapter Two: JEWEL**_

**-Northern Hyrule: Death Mountain-**

**Several days after meeting his new comrades**, Link reached the summit of the famous Death Mountain. A craggy, actively volcanic peak of at least eight thousand feet, it was , of course, not the highest peak in the world, but it was certainly very dangerous. Heat waves drifting out of the open crater and down the mountainside made everyone in his party who could sweat do so profusely. All the trees that had grown up the eastern slope were gone, leaving only volcanic ash and rock, with nothing left at all for the travelers to use for shelter.

Link stood at the edge of the precipice that would lead down the mountainside and put his hands on his knees and panted heavily, looking over his weary party. The Sheikah boy Jaden was dressed at this point in not much more than burlap and a few scraps of leather, his original clothes having been lost sometime before ever even finding the Legendary Hero in the tower. Zeta, the Zoran female archer, was coming dangerously close to fatally dehydrating, her arms and legs losing scales to the heat. Lagging behind, and desperate to escape the searing temperatures, was Dreck, the forest Deku Scrub, already starting to shrivel and warp as the heat lambasted his wood-like skin.

Of everyone, Gonga was the only one who seemed to be in his element.

"Ahh, perfect weather today!" he said to no one in particular, breathing in the scorching air.

As a Goron, intense, blistering heat would be the one of the lastlast thing to bother him. His tough, leathery skin was enough to shield against temperatures of well over three thousand degrees. Gonga felt right at home, and made no other remarks or actions that would suggest otherwise, but, nevertheless, his companions still gave him odd looks.

With his war-hammer, he broke off a large chunk of black volcanic rock. Shoving it into his gaping mouth, Gonga ground the rock up rather noisily, prompting even more strange glances. Then, totally oblivious to all other things, he curled himself up into a ball and went to sleep. So special among all the species in Hyrule were the mountainous Gorons that in times of great need they had the ability to digest solid rock, drawing from it precious minerals and elements, using them to help their bodies endure starvation much better than any other race.

Link sighed heavily to himself, knowing that it would now be next to impossible to wake the Goron up for at least another ten minutes.

While the others sat down near Gonga to shield themselves from the hot winds and to take a breather, the Hylian moved himself even closer to the edge of the sheer cliff face that led to lower ground. It wasn't quite as hot as other areas where he stood, so he sat down, letting his legs dangle over the edge.

Gazing out over the majestic landscape, Link could see, down in the valley, the little village of Kakariko, the Sheikah town where Princess Zelda's caretaker, Impa, had been born. He presumed that Jaden was also born and raised somewhere in the vicinity of that town.

Because of this, his thoughts turned to Zelda herself. He actually hadn't seen her in a good few years, and it troubled him. The last chance he was able to really spend any considerable amount of time with her was the few months after he had returned the Master Sword to its proper place in the Temple of Time. It had been a magical time then, where the two of them did nothing but play in the grass all day long.

They had been the only two people on the planet to have any knowledge of Ganondorf's reign of terror. Since Link had never been sealed away in the Sacred Realm, the King of Thieves never did gain control of anything, though he did manage to gain the Triforce of Power. However, thanks to quick action by the young Link and Zelda, Ganondorf was captured as he exited the Sacred Realm, and with no time to learn the intricacies of the magic afforded him by his piece of the Triforce, he was subdued and summarily judged, first by the King of Hyrule, and then by the Sages, the spiritual holy-men who were the caretakers of the Hylian religion.

Ganondorf was taken, bound and chained, deep into the deserts east of Hyrule, and there he was imprisoned in the twilight of what was left of the Sacred Realm. Soon, people began to wonder why he had mysteriously disappeared, the Gerudo especially. Without their leader, Nabooru, Ganondorf's second-in-command, took over.

The Gerudo quickly fragmented however, and for a time, their power in the west of Hyrule was greatly diminished, but they were recently united once more under the mysterious Gorkhan. He naturally wasn't related to Ganondorf, but was the most recent male to have been born to them. For reasons lost to legends and myth, only one male was born to the Gerudo every hundred or so years. Hylian scientists and philosophers were still trying to find what could have caused this strange mutation in such a small group of humans.

Gorkhan himself entered the world seventy-five years after his predecessor, and was now only twenty-six.

On the mountain, however, these things were furthest from Link's mind. He preferred instead to dwell on his memories of the princess, Zelda. She had entrusted him with her own personal treasure, the Ocarina of Time. It was all she had given him when he set off into the wilderness in search of Navi, his fairy friend who had been his most steadfast companion during his struggles in the alternate future.

As if a dream had suddenly been realized to him, he drew the ocarina out of his pocket and started to play a sweet, melodious tune on the little clay instrument. It was a timeless song, one that was written when the world was new and fresh, and spoke of the never ending progress of the ages. Few mortals had ever had its notes grace their ears, as it was a highly guarded secret of the Royal Family. It was one the most soothing pieces of music he had ever heard, and naturally, it was Zelda who had taught it to him.

Together, they had played it constantly as they sat and looked up at the brilliantly luminous stars at night, creating music even until the early morning hours and into the dawn.

Suddenly, Link snapped out of the daydream and tried to remember his task at hand. The heat was certainly starting to get to him at this point, but unfortunately, memories of Zelda and their exploits kept creeping back into his head. He had wanted to stay with her forever, but he had greatly missed his fairy friend at the time, the one who had helped him through his most perilous adventure.

And so, Link journeyed far, ending up in the far off Hylian province of Termina. There, with the help of the land's four guardian spirits, he had saved the world by putting an end to the evil Majora. The young hero then had many more adventures, and almost single-handedly saved the lands of Hyrule, Labrynna, and Holodrum, all in a few short years.

Now age twenty, he had already lived up to the title of the Legendary Hero. While journeying far away several years past, he was gifted with the Blade of Evil's Bane, the Master Sword, which had become useless as a key to the Sacred Realm. The Oracle of Secrets had removed it from its pedestal, and with it he stopped the dark plots of Ganondorf, now twisted into Ganon, the King of Evil. For a while, he had needed to use two hands to wield the sword, but it did not fail him in the end.

Link had grown since then, and was now a strapping young man and an able swordsman.

Throughout his recent adventures, he had seldom seen his beautiful friend Zelda.

In fact, she was one of the reasons he traveled so much.

Once upon a time, the Princess of Hyrule had captured his heart. They had never been anything more than friends, but at this point in his life, Link wanted something more than that. He was her champion, supposedly, and the rules of chivalry forbid anything other than acquaintances between knight and lady. However, despite his near kingdom wide fame, and despite having saved the life of the crown princess on more than one occasion, Link had yet to be knighted, and this both troubled and confused him.

Link put this out of his mind again, and reasoned that if he did even more daring deeds, then he might gain more than just Zelda's friendship.

Perhaps, if he could win her over, then maybe he would finally be at peace with the world, though he admitted to himself that that would be unlikely.

Just as the last chord of the Song of Time came from his ocarina, the Deku Scrub came and sat down next to him.

"That's a beautiful song," said Dreck, admiring the fine craftsmanship of the instrument. "Is the ocarina yours?"

Link smiled a bit and gazed longingly at the instrument before answering.

"Ahh, no," he replied, "I'm sort of…holding it for a friend."

He meant the Princess, but Dreck didn't know that, and continued his line of questioning.

"Really? Who? I'll bet it's a girl," he said. "It's always a girl."

"Yeah," replied Link, "you'd win that bet."

"Oooooo…is she pretty?"

"Pretty doesn't do her nearly enough justice..."

Again, a broad smile crept its way across his face. Dreck didn't seem to understand why Link had suddenly spaced out, so he poked him in the side to get his attention.

"Enough daydreaming, we need to get down this mountain quickly before I burst into flames!" said the Deku, dramatically pointing at himself.

Indeed, if they did not leave soon, the heat might very well set the little shrub man on fire. Link fixed his hat, placed the ocarina back in its pouch, and stood up. He proceeded to wake up the sleeping Goron from a safe distance using the scabbard of the Master Sword. The imposing Gonga woke from his sleep in an uproar, standing and swinging his arms wide while yawning, only narrowly missing beaning Link in the face with an outstretched fist.

"Okay, so how are we going to get down?" asked Zeta, her hands on her hips.

In reply, Dreck reached underneath his tiny gray hat and pulled out two strange looking flowers. Both were quite large, with eight orange-red petals neatly splayed out in a circle. He gripped the stalks tightly and stepped closer to the edge of the cliff, ready to jump off.

Link saw what he was doing, and went to help him. He grabbed two small, volcanic rocks that were nearby and tied them to Dreck's legs with a length of rope he always carried with him.

Seconds before he was about to jump, an irate Zeta physically restrained him.

"Dreck, you _ridiculous little__ wooden man!_" she yelled at him. "You _want_ to get killed, don't you? The wind is blowing too hard! You'll get dashed to pieces on the boulders, or be carried a thousand miles away, you imbecile!"

The Deku put away his flowers and glared at the Zora with great malice in his eyes.

"Quiet _fish woman!_" he shot at her. "I know what I'm doing! I'm a lot smarter than you think!"

Zeta snarled at him to show her disgust, forcing him to explain his intentions. He put away his flowers for a moment and pointed out over the expanse of the horizon to show what he meant. Looking around, Zeta saw the dark, circular cloud that always hung over Death Mountain appeared to be larger and was rotating a little bit faster than it normally did.

"Listen, there's about a four knot wind going right now," he said. "I weigh only a few pounds, so, yes, it might very well blow me all the damned way to Lake Hylia! But if you were paying attention, you'd have noticed the rocks attached to my feet!"

"Oh…" was all Zeta was able to say.

Dreck shook his bulbous head in pity for the Zora woman. Again he pulled out his flowers and held them at the ready.

"The rocks will act as weights and counteract the force of the wind. It's really quite simple, even for you Zeta," he added sarcastically.

"Why you _rotten little piece of bark!_" she replied in anger. "I'll show you a thing or t..."

She never did get to finish insulting him. Before Zeta could scream any more obscenities at him, Dreck stepped off the edge and into the wild blue yonder. At first, the force of the wind blew him slightly off course. But soon he was soaring majestically in the bright azure sky, thoroughly enjoying himself the entire time.

Dreck landed quite a distance away on a small ridge at a much lower altitude. He waved to them from afar with his stubby arms, then sat down to take a quick nap.

Zeta was absolutely, positively furious.

"Who does that demented little shrub think he is?" she yelled, venting her frustration.

"Uh…the smart one," Jaden answered, beginning to climb down the rough surface of the cliff. "I wish I had thought of that."

"Indeed, Zeta, you must admit, that was a fairly good idea," Gonga added, searching for a way to perhaps roll down the mountain.

"I think you should give him credit for things once in a while," Link said. "Maybe then you wouldn't fight so much."

The cerulean colored Zora turned several different shades of purple in a blind rage.

She wondered how they could dare to speak to her like that and assume they'd get away with it.

Why should Zeta, perhaps the greatest archer to ever live, have to listen to their sarcastic comments all the time? She had come from the proudest line of Zora warriors, and could probably hit that smart-mouthed Deku Scrub from where she was standing.

Of course, none of that mattered.

Her comrades were almost at the bottom by the time she had finished her temper tantrum.

**-The City of Hyrule-**

At least three and a half days later, after a very painful journey down the mountain, Link and his party entered the magnificent City of Hyrule. It was hard for him to believe, but the city seemed bigger than it had when he was a child. The drawbridge that had once allowed entrance to the city had been dismantled, as a population boom forced people to build their houses and shops just outside the city limits. Therefore, a new wall was constructed, leaving the small tributary of the Zora River to flow unimpeded through the heart of town with a permanent stone bridge running across it.

Everything appeared to be grandiose. The majesty that was Hyrule Castle, with its many banners fluttering in the breeze, overshadowed everything. The Temple of Time, where everyday Hylians could go to pay homage to the goddesses, stood tall as a beacon of light and hope.

The Market Square was still the bustling place it had always been, even now somewhat late in the afternoon. Customers and merchants from all over the realm convened here every day to trade goods for rupees, the small, brightly colored jewels that were used as currency in Hyrule. People were bustling about, and generally minding their own business. At first, none of them noticed the weary travelers enter the square, but they did eventually, and soon were desperately trying to hock their wares.

"If we go north from here, we can meet with Princess Zelda," Link said, pointing to the castle. "I don't have any money, so we might as well just go and get it overwi…"

Before he could end his sentence, the Sheikah boy jabbed him in the side.

"Master Link, look!" Jaden exclaimed, gesturing out into the crowd.

Around them, stood at least a hundred other Hylians. Every one of them was simply gawking at Link, and they soon began to whisper amongst themselves. They moved in closer to stare at him some more.

"Impossible…" said an old man. "Link is thirty feet tall."

"I heard he can lift mountains with his bare hands," a little girl whispered.

"His clothes are pretty shoddy," a young woman said.

"Who cares, he's handsome! Look at the size of his ears!" her friend exclaimed, beginning to drool.

This went on for only a few more seconds before the crowd had them completely surrounded. All of them swarmed in, trying to grab Link so he could give out autographs, among other things.

"_Aaaaaahh!_" the hero began to yell. "_Get em' off! Get em' off!_"

Link never did think he was that much of a celebrity, but apparently, in his absence, he had become one. Several small children firmly attached themselves to his legs, and many young women were clawing at him, trying to have him all to themselves. With girls tugging on each arm, and little kids disrupting his balance, Link was sure to topple headfirst into the sea of people.

If he did, the hero might be smothered to death.

Things were rapidly going out of control. The rest of Link's party had been rudely shoved out of the way as soon as they had entered the square. Gonga could have easily cleared the area, but he had no wish to hurt any of the cityfolk. Jaden and Zeta were at a loss, and even Dreck was out of ideas. They could only hang their heads and hope the mob did not suffocate their friend.

Lucky for the Legendary Hero, a few of the King's soldiers came to break things up.

"All right, all right, _break it up!_" one of them said, forcing his way through the crowd.

"Everybody go about your business and leave this man alone!" the other soldier added.

Clad in shining armor, these were but two knights out of many that served the King with an unparalleled devotion. Hylian soldiers always did look a little ominous, but most were easygoing unless there was some kind of trouble.

The hero had fallen over, and was now lying in the middle of the hard cobblestone street. While one soldier returned to duty, the other bent over to give Link a hand. The green clad Hylian took hold of the soldier's outstretched arm and pulled himself to his feet.

"Thank you muchly sir," Link said, "I'm afraid to think of what they might have done to me…"

The soldier nervously put his hand behind his head, unsure of how to accept the hero's thanks, as he often received so little..

"Oh, it was nothing really," he chuckled before recognition showed in his eyes. "Hey, wait a minute! Haven't I seen you before?"

Link looked rather confused, and shifted his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"If we have, I don't remember," he replied apologetically.

"Of course we've met!" the soldier exclaimed. "You're "Mister Hero"!"

At the mention of that name, the memories all came flooding back. He had given this soldier a wooden mask with the image of a popular children's character, a fox called Keaton. Every kid in the realm had wanted one, and Link was happy to sell it to the man, for a small profit of course, so he could give it to his young son.

Link could only guess how much fun its new owner had playing with it, but just the thought made him happy. Money was just a thing to him, but the smile on that boy's face years before was a priceless memory.

"I never thanked you enough for that, young man," the soldier said. "If there's anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask."

The hero only thought for about five seconds before answering.

"Can you take me and my friends to see Princess Zelda?"

**-Hyrule Castle-**

**The royal palace** was a truly wondrous sight to behold. Giant towers rose above the billowing clouds hovering over Hyrule Field, demanding obedience from all those living in the realm. Much larger than it actually seemed, it was designed and built by a veritable army of bricklayers. Here was the seat of power from which the Royal Family held its dominion over the land and its many peoples. This symbol of authority was both a wonder of architecture and an impregnable fortress.

Although the outer wall of Hyrule Castle was made of simple gray stone, the inside was composed almost entirely of the finest marble. Banners hung from every wall, proclaiming for all the King's sovereignty. His Majesty's Royal Guard stood straight as arrows at every major entrance. Everything about was immaculately clean, with not the tiniest bit of dust or dirt anywhere to be seen.

That is, of course, until the ragbag company trudged wearily through the front entrance.

Knowing he wasn't actually supposed to be there without permission, the knight who had led them in quickly turned and exited the foyer.

"Hmm, this is nice…" Jaden muttered to himself, admiring the furnishings.

Underneath their feet were enormous, plush purple carpets. The edges were laced with spun gold, and they were truly a joy to stand upon. A spirit of malice, though, began to grow around them as palace guards and shocked servants gaped at them. Not one of the party had yet realized just how much mud and dirt from their footwear was being absorbed into the priceless carpet.

As if to confirm this unspoken sense of horror, a door on the other side of the vast greeting room opened dramatically, the knob banging loudly against the marble walls. Out stepped a tall woman, dressed in a dark blue gown with a long train that spread along the floor.

Her hair was of the same color as Jaden's, a stark white, identifying her as yet another of the Shadow Folk. Her eyes were of deepest crimson red, making it seem as if they were ablaze with anger and she hastily moved to intercept the five incoming travelers.

The servants that had before been too appalled to move quickly sprung into action. They unceremoniously pushed Link and his comrades off of the carpet and onto a patch of bare marble floor, then proceeded to uproot the plush material. Within seconds it was in their arms, rolled up, and on its way to be thoroughly cleaned.

Jaden frowned and glared at the woman as she walked gracefully over to them.

"Indeed, it is nice. Or at least it _was!_" she said loudly, addressing him while gesturing to the splendor of the castle interior. "Do you plan to defy gravity now and walk upon the tapestries that hang from the ceiling?."

Without a moments hesitation, the Legendary Hero tactfully stepped in to change the subject.

"A thousand apologies, Lady Impa," Link said, bowing courteously before her. Behind him, his friends showed their admiration in the same manner.

This woman was Princess Zelda's caretaker, Impa. One of the greatest of the remaining Sheikah people, she had been handpicked by the King to tend to his daughter's every need. In fact, she had literally raised the Princess since she was an infant, protecting the King's daughter and gently molding her into the confident young royal that everyday Hylians professed to know and love.

Zelda, being much older now, no longer had much need for Impa's services. The Princess had her own ladies-in-waiting to tend to her, so the Sheikah was now more a cherished advisor and personal mentor.

"Stand up child," Impa told the young hero. "There's no need for that…"

The same deep wisdom was in her voice that Link had remembered from many years before. She had an aura of respectability and honor about her, the kind that meant no one would never dare to question her authority. However, despite her often hard exterior, Impa's heart was rumored to be bigger than Hyrule itself, metaphorically, of course.

She herself had been quite big in the recent past, having had a great taste for Calatian chocolates, but had since slimmed down to her normal size.

Link and his friends slowly rose before her. She looked them all over, and noticed the tattoos on three of them, making a mental note to bring up the subject at a later time.

"We haven't seen you in so very long, boy," she said. "Why did you not come to visit us? Much too long…"

"I've, uh…I have been rather busy," said the hero.

The Sheikah woman laughed heartily, and put her hands on the Hylian's shoulders and embraced him..

"I would bet that, and more!" she chuckled. "You're the biggest thing to happen in our kingdom since…since…the Goddesses!"

Link's sense of modesty prevented him from doing anything other than smiling nervously and scratching his neck in an awkward manner, and Impa patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. Right now there was someone else she needed to speak with.

Ignoring everyone, she walked over to Jaden.

"Boy, why are you dressed in those rags?" she asked, referring to the state of his clothing.

Jaden looked down at himself and the dirty brown sack he called a pair of clothes. He should have been wearing one of the splendid blue garments of the Sheikah warriors. Instead, he was covered in scum, looking more like a pauper than a servant of the Royal Family.

"Ahh...I had to ditch my clothes," he nervously replied.

"And why is that?" Impa countered.

"In the process of saving of saving our great and glorious Legendary Hero, I may have misplaced my armor, thank you very much," Jaden sarcastically replied.

At his comments, the Sheikah woman frowned. The boy's insolence was getting on her nerves. This was not the way a proper Sheikah should act and she needed to intervene before he further degraded the honor of her race.

Impa proceeded to bring her right hand into the air. In one swift motion, she slapped him hard upside the back of the head, probably leaving a nice red mark.

"Don't talk back Jaden!" Impa said, quite aggravated. "Your big mouth is what always gets you into trouble."

"Sorry Auntie," the boy responded, his head low as he looked away, quite embarrassed.

Link and his friends suddenly began to snicker amongst themselves. Apparently, they found something very amusing.

"What now?" Jaden said, quite annoyed. "Did I do something?"

The Legendary Hero tried to hold back a burst of laughter, and he almost lost the struggle. His face was turning red, and his cheeks were puffed out, holding in the air. Breathing deeply for a moment, he calmed himself, trying not to think of what he had just heard.

"You two are r-related?" Link asked, clearing his throat.

"Jaden is my nephew," Impa replied. "I've trained him personally in the Sheikah martial arts. I sent him out into the world two and a half years ago, hoping he would prove himself a man. How he could lose such an important item as his armor is beyond me."

"Yeah, he is pretty clumsy," said the hero under his breath, but directed at Impa. "I'll admit he did help me escape, but other than that he has little sense of balance…"

Jaden took great offense to that, his ears able to hear whispers just as well, if not better than, a Hylian could.

As the boy turned away in humiliation to sulk quietly, Impa sighed heavily. She was excited to see Link, and her nephew could be be given a refresher course in proper Shiekah behavior at a later date. The young hero hadn't visited in many years, even though he was always welcome. By this time, many had thought that he should have taken his place among the Knights of Hyrule. Unfortunately, only the King could offer him a knighthood, and had not yet done so.

Some among the Royal Council had come to believe Link was a rogue agent, suspicious at best, and dangerous at worst. Still others thought him to be the sole salvation of the land, the great solution to all the problems the Army could not solve. All of these opinions, and more, had filtered into the King's ears over the years, but Hyrule's sovereign had never said so much as a word on the matter save that the man was welcome in his house.

Did Link ever know that he could come and go as he pleased. The King of Hyrule owed him a huge debt of gratitude for saving his realm, as well as his daughter, again and again, but Impa could not recall if this had ever been properly communicated to Link.

Was that why he never came back to see her and the Princess?

"Enough of this," the Sheikah woman said. "Jaden can continue his infatuation and association with these Renegades if he wishes. He can have his attitude and act childish as well, if that so tickles his fancy."

The boy turned around once more, but only to stick his tongue out at his aunt.

"So," Impa sighed, turning her attention back to Link. "What is it that brings you here?"

"I...uh, we...are here to see the Princess," said the Hylian. "Would you...happen to know where she is?"

For a good minute or so, Impa pondered his question, as it required much thought. At that moment, there were very many places the Princess might be. She could easily be locked in a meeting, writing out royal documents, or being fitted for a gown of some sort. Either way, it was sure to be very important.

"Come to think of it, I am not entirely positive where she is," the Sheikah replied. "Today is her free day, so Zelda might very well still be sleeping."

Link's jaw dropped wide open. He stared strangely at Impa for a long moment, his brow raised in confusion.

Impa simply stared back at him, smiling politely, as if such a thing were common knowledge throughout the kingdom. She noticed that Link appeared to be a little irked, but more so puzzled. Furrowing her brow, she tried to think of a way of explaining it without making the Princess seem like a lazy, rich snob.

"Let me rephrase that," said Impa. "Her Highness has an enormous amount of responsibilities. She an ambassador, a diplomat, a hostess, a ringleader sometimes. Zelda does all the things her father doesn't want to do, the things her mother is too aloof to care for, as well as all the things her brother is too young to do. Six days a week, she works almost until she drops. Conferences, meeting dignitaries, banquets, many things of that nature are on her list. After so much, on one day of her choosing, Zelda usually just goes to her room and generally isn't seen for the next twenty-four hours."

For a good ten seconds, the hero had absolutely nothing to say, but after the time had passed, he found a few simple words.

"Ahh, okay," Link finally replied, seeming to understand it all. "Do you think there is any chance I could see her now?"

"Perhaps," the Lady Impa answered. "I think that we could arrange that...but it's your funeral, lad."

**-Hours later-**

The room Link stood in now was one of the most luxurious he had ever had the pleasure of being in. Lightly violet colored doilies and creamy white lace were everywhere, giving the whole space an undeniably feminine look and feel. Several large bureaus were situated along the walls, the most striking one being a gigantic mahogany set of dresser dresser attached to an equally large mirror. A walk-in closet with a half open door revealed a veritable treasure trove of beautiful gowns and dresses, the collection easily worth more than all the rupees Link had ever spent in his whole life.

Stepping forward queitly, the hero then noticed the bed. King-sized did little to describe it, as it was positively enormous. The wooden bed frame had been embroidered with gold, and was shimmering brightly in the fading light of the afternoon sun. Over the mattress were sheets of purest white, crumpled up in the lower left corner, looking for all the world like a big puffy cloud.

Link moved closer to see if anyone was still in the bed. Unfortunately, its occupant was nowhere to be seen, probably gone since that morning. He glanced up and searched the light purple room in an attempt to find its owner.

He found her soon after.

On the other side of the vast room near an open window, Link saw the very person he had wanted to talk to for so long. Thin and curvaceous, she was the living epitome of earthly beauty. Her long blonde hair flowed down over her back, with only a few strands falling over her face. The girl's eyes were as blue as the sky, like a stunning turquoise. With her kindly heart and a fierce sense of honor and justice, all the peoples of Hyrule respected her. Clad only in a simple white dress, her appearance belied her importance in the lives of everyday folk.

Men would gladly die for her. There had been a train of suitors a mile long since she was a child, as she was royalty of the highest order, answering only to the King.

The greatest jewel of the Royal Family, this maiden was truly the fairest girl in all the land.

She was the lovely Crown Princess of Hyrule, Zelda.

For the entire afternoon she had been sitting at her desk. Now, the young woman was sleeping peacefully, and drooling slightly, as the hero slowly approached her. He noticed a stack of parchment that had fallen off the top, and that she was still gripping an ink pen tightly in her dainty hand.

At first, Link had absolutely no wish to wake her. He stood ramrod straight and remained absolutely silent. Impa's last words before sending him in had been a stern warning.

_"If you wake Zelda up and she's grumpy, then pity your soul…"_

She was so quiet that he could barely hear her shallow breaths. Link locked his knees and stood absolutely motionless, not wanting to make the slightest noise. Despite his not saying or doing anything, Zelda awoke with quite a startle.

The hero stopped breathing when she started to move around. A smile crept across her lips and turned into a wide grin. Though her eyes were still tightly closed, Zelda got up to stretch. She didn't seem to notice Link's presence at all.

It was either that, or she was ignoring him for the time being.

"Did, um…did I...wake you?" the Hylian stammered.

"Not really," the Princess replied, yawning. "I just didn't want to get up and on with business. Who let you in, who are you, and what do you want?"

Despite the sweet, melodious tone of her voice, Link was aghast.

Her last three words drove through him like a dagger. How could she not remember him after all they had been through? Were all the adventures the pain and the emotion for nothing? What purpose would this visit have if he had to spend all his time explaining who he was?

His questions were answered and his mind put to ease when Zelda finally opened her eyes.

At the sight of the man in front of her, the Princess became very excited. Link had grown up to be very handsome. Young women everywhere pined for him, and a few had already tried their best to marry him. As a rogue however, he was always searching for adventure, and was unlikely to settle down.

However, there was at least one person who could change that situation.

"It's...it's you," the Princess said incredulously. She then raised an eyebrow and smirked at him knowingly. "Took you long enough to visit, didn't it?"

Link was almost a head taller than Zelda, and was certainly more conditioned physically than she. He now wore a white tunic in place of his trademark green one, which had been ripped beyond repair. Impa had taken his hat so it could be mended, and then presented him with the tunic and a silk undershirt.

"Yes, it is I Princess," Link answered shyly. "It's a...a privilege to finally be in your presence."

He got down on one knee and bowed before her, not really knowing what else to say.

"That is totally and completely unnecessary," Zelda said. "Please, stand up."

She walked over to Link and took his hand, then brought him to his feet. For a moment they locked eyes, sending a torrent of memories and emotions washing over the both of them. Zelda quickly grew red in the face and had to turn away.

"To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" she asked the hero, trying to hide her feelings. "Is there anything that you need?"

"Actually, yes, I do require something Princess," he replied. "I greatly wish that this was only a social call, but I really need to have a discussion with you."

She turned back to face him, her cheeks blushing light pink anyway. Batting her eyelashes, Zelda took his hand once more.

"Very well then." she said. "You will walk with me?"

**-Zelda's personal courtyard-**

**The Eye of Din had long since disappeared beyond the horizon**, allowing the blanket of the night sky to drape itself over the land of Hyrule. A cool summer breeze swept lightly over the courtyard, bringing the temperature down to ideal conditions. The fragrant scent of flowers filled the air, giving the courtyard's only occupants wonderful delusions.

"When was the last time we did took a walk like this?" the Princess of Destiny sighed. "It's so beautiful out tonight."

"Seven years almost," answered the Legendary Hero, who made his way to a flat patch of grass that was free of shrubbery. He sat down upon the grass and began staring up at the stars.

"And that's definitely way too long," said the Princess, sitting down next to him. "I've been waiting for you to come back, but for the longest time you never did..."

Link sat up straighter then, and brushed his shoulder length hair out of his face. He turned toward Princess Zelda and stared deep into her eyes, trying to find an answer to her question.

"I wanted to, really I did, but...but you know that I had to try to find her..." he softy said.

"Oh, yes, your fairy friend, Navi," Zelda replied. "I had almost forgotten. How could I have done such a thing?"

Link held up a hand and shook his head, absolving her of any forgetfulness.

"It's okay Princess, I'll always remember her," he sadly remarked. "In my dreams, I can still see that creature Ganondorf became, and how Navi wanted nothing more than to help me destroy him. We did, I went back in time, and she just up flew away. At first I thought nothing of it, but...Navi never returned..."

"You never did find her in all your travels, did you?"

"No, no I did not..."

The hero seemed to be on the verge of tears, at least to Zelda, but she knew he would no do so in front of her. The fairy Navi had been his only companion in some of the most empty and painful times of his life. Without her, the very first monster he came across might well have chopped Link up into tiny, ragged bits and eaten him. She brought him through many more situations like that, but now that Navi was gone, he had changed into a different person than he was as a child.

He had grown up, far too fast, and his sense of naivete was replaced by an often hard-edged view of the world. Zelda decided to spare him any further feelings, and so changed the subject.

"I never told anyone about what happened during those lost seven years..." she confessed. "Not the whole story."

The hero was rather astonished by the switch, and answered immediately.

"Well, why not?" Link asked, matter-of-factly.

She hadn't expected that question at all, and instantly it hit Zelda that she was about to reveal something that no one else had ever heard before. It frightened her, and she turned away from Link to stare at a lonely blue flower that was poking out of the soft, green grass. She poked at it, and thought of picking it to smell it, but decided against it with a sigh.

"It's...it's complicated," she muttered.

Link put his hands on her shoulders, reassuring her.

"Alright, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said simply.

The Princess spun to face him, a miserable look on her face. Without her even saying a word, Link understood completely. Zelda had witnessed many horrible things during that time, things that a child should never ever be forced to see.

"There was a battle in the desert," she recalled, closing her eyes and speaking softly. "Ganondorf destroyed our army with his legions of demons and monsters. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers died. That was the end of us. The glorious, all-powerful Hylian Empire fell two days later..."

Link seemed a bit confused, and spoke up.

"Hylian Empire?" he said incredulously. "I didn't know your father was an emperor."

The Princess blink at him for a moment, then shook her head, smiling for a moment. It had slipped her mind that Link was not anywhere near as interested in politics as she was.

"Well, not quite, but he likes to think of himself as one," Zelda explained. "Labrynna...Termina...and so on...these all are provinces of Hyrule. They pay tribute to my father. This city is now the center of a vast empire, despite the fact that my father has yet to declare himself an emperor. That could come at any time."

The Princess shrugged her shoulders on that point, then gestured to the north, outside the castle walls.

"Hyrule City extends about two and a half miles north of here. There'll soon be more than a hundred thousand people living here," she said matter-of-factly. "Ganondorf did terrible things to the people of Hyrule in that other time, so think of what he could do if his bonds were ever truly broken."

A very large amount of people lived in the northern part of the city. That area was the true business and residential center, with the southern part, while smaller, being the cultural center of Hyrule City. Both areas had been thoroughly ravaged during the King of Evil's reign of terror. Luckily, that tragedy had been averted due to Zelda and Link's heroism, relegating that dreadful experience and those dark times to the world of memories.

Due to the power of the pieces of the Triforce that they each held, Link and Zelda were the only two who could recall the tragedy of Ganondorf's rule, and thus work to prevent it from ever taking place. It had been a hard sell to have the King of Hyrule turn on a supposed ally, but the duo had convinced him of the Gerudo's duplicity and treachery.

Zelda sighed heavily, and looked up at the sky. She dared not close her eyes, lest visions of Ganondorf's evil reign come flooding back into her mind.

"You understand why I couldn't ever tell anyone about what happened," the Princess murmured quietly.

Link moved closer, and wrapped his arms around her, trying to give comfort. But her emotions took hold of her, and she brushed him off with a strength beyond her at the time.

"I had to see my father _die!_ I had to _watch_, from four hundred yards off as the axe came down on his head!" Zelda exclaimed. "They _murdered_ him in the field, in plain sight of _everyone!_ Then...then Ganondorf _burned the city!_ Thousands were killed while it was being evacuated! I could do nothing to save them..."

At that point, the normally icy calm princess broke down. She collapsed into his arms a half-sobbing mess, and Link just quietly held her. Zelda had been forced to hide from Ganondorf, to disguise herself as a Shiekah from then on to avoid capture and own execution. Every day of those seven long years she had feared for her life and the lives of her loyal subjects. Frequently, Zelda had nightmares about the Evil King coming to take her away and destroy Hyrule for the second time.

"I refuse to let that happen again..." she whimpered. "I know why you're here. Gorkhan. I know, you don't even have to say it."

The Princess dried her tears and peered deeply into Link's eyes. She could sense that he had his own wealth of hateful memories as well.

"But you know why we can't ever just tell anyone the truth about Ganondorf," Zelda replied. "They barely believed us before, and even with all the proof we had! The Gerudo are very temperamental. Plus, they worship their kings, both past and present. If...if they found out about that it would mean yet another civil war."

A thousand things were swirling through her mind, most of them visions of what might happen should the new Gerudo leader decide to get hostile. However, what was absent were the solutions to these problems.

Zelda stood and kicked the grass with her shoe in frustration, making a sizeable divot. She liked to have control of the situation, but had little idea now of what to do. The Princess reflected upon everything and anything her father had told her about diplomacy and politics, desperately trying to find the right combination.

A brilliant idea then popped into her head, and she knew just what to do. She grabbed Link, and started to walk towards the nearest door with him in tow.

"_Ack!_ Princess, where are you taking me?" Link cried.

"Somewhere where we can plan what we're going to do," she answered. "And I want you to call me Zelda, okay?"

"Yes, Princess. By all means…"

**-The Princess's chambers-**

Dragging Link behind her, Princess Zelda arrived back at the entrance to her room. Opening the doors, she shoved the hero inside, nearly knocking him to the floor. Then, she promptly walked over to her desk and sat down. Grabbing her ink pen, Zelda began to feverishly write on a piece of gilded parchment.

What she was writing, the Legendary Hero had no idea. He dained to ask, and did so.

"And that is?" Link asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Something that will get me out of this forsaken castle," the Princess replied.

"And where exactly are you going?" the hero inquired.

Zelda looked up from her desk and stared at him, her lips twisting into a smug grin.

"With you, of course," she said plainly. "Impa can take over my duties. She's done it before."

Link took several steps back, shaking his head. As much as he enjoyed being with the Princess, he surely wasn't going to take her along. It would be his head on a pike should any unkindness be visited upon the Crown Princess of Hyrule.

"You must be joking," Link said, his jaw wide open. "Tell me you jest."

The Princess raised an eyebrow, and gazed at him quizzically.

"No, not at all," she said innocently. "Quite set on this over here."

She then simply returned to her writing, ignoring Link for the time being. He was left to stand there and sputter for a moment before he found his voice.

"Zelda, please! You can't be serious!" the hero exclaimed.

Link knew he could do nothing but try to persuade her not to. His antagonistic tone wasn't helping his current cause either.

Again, the Princess stopped. Reaching up, she removed the gold crown from atop her head and placed on the desk. For a moment, she looked at it, pondering its meaning and the responsibility that came with it.

"The Hyrulean Civil War lasted for almost fifty years, did you know that Link?" the Princess solemnly asked.

"No, I…" he began before Zelda cut him off.

"_Fifty years_ of civil war! _Fifty years_ of ceaseless combat!" she said. "That was the price of my father's kingdom, the price for peace. For me to sit here and do _nothing_ while that peace is threatened by yet another Gerudo warlord goes against everything I've been taught…"

"But we can handle Gorkhan by ourselves," Link replied. "Myself and my other companions. I don't want to get you involved in this."

The Princess stood up, finished with her document. She folded it, placed it in the closest envelope, and sealed it with wax. Zelda stamped it with her personal seal and placed it on the desk.

"You just don't want me to get hurt," she stated. "That's something you don't have to worry about."

Link simply rolled his eyes.

"Zelda, when did you become a warrior?" he said sarcastically.

"Excuse me!" the Princess retorted. "You forget that I was trained in all the Sheikah martial arts. Granted, Impa doesn't remember it but I'm not completely useless on the battlefield..."

"Princess, could you at least try to see it my way?" Link argued.

That was the end of the line. Zelda folded her arms and turned away from him. She would have her way one way or another, and there was nothing Link could possibly hope to do about it.

"_No!_ I do what I wish, when I so wish to do it," she sternly replied. "I do _not_ have to ask your permission, or argue with you any further over the subject. The way I see it, you have two choices. Either let me go with you, or have me go anyway, without you! It's entirely your decision..."

Link quietly sighed to himself and let his head droop. While his arms swung uselessly and his knees buckled, the truth hit him and nearly knocked him over. Another long journey was at hand and he would have to spend day after day after day at the Princess's side. He did not want to have to essentially babysit her, and was skeptical about any actual combat ability she claimed to possess.

When he thought about it however, it didn't seem so bad. He would certainly have to protect her from a huge number of goblins and monsters, but at least it would be a challenge. Of course, Link was never one to back down from a challenge.

In addition, he would get lots of quality time with Zelda, who, he had to admit, was growing on him again, despite the attitude he remembered..

"So, what's it going to be?" the Princess asked.

The young hero smiled to himself.

"Since you put it that way, I don't see why not…"

**-Outside Hyrule Castle: the next day-**

**Even though a whole day had passed,** Zeta was still painfully sore. She hadn't expected such a thorough cleaning, or the use of hard-bristled scrub brushes. She silently vowed never to take a bath anywhere in Hyrule City ever again.

"Ugh...I think I'm missing a few scales," she said, feeling the small of her back. Indeed, she was, and she furrowed her brow at the discovery.

No one was paying any attention to her complaints. The others were quite busy marveling over their new clothes. Jaden had his pristine blue Sheikah armor again, which he was constantly straightening and adjusting. Dreck was fiddling around with his hat, which had been expertly stitched and now had a red feather sticking out of it.

Gonga now wore nothing, and was, for all intents and purposes, completely naked.

The young Zora woman then peered down at herself. The leather hauberk she wore now was of fine make, suitable for any archer, although she lamented the loss of her pants for the leather-armor skirt. While it offered her legs adequate protection, Zeta found it to be rather drafty.

For about a half-hour they had been waiting outside on the fairgrounds in front of the castle. Link had yet to return from his audience with the Princess, so they did not see him during the night. One of the guards woke them up and had given them the message that they were to wait outside.

_**-The previous day: Lower level of the Castle-**_

**Zelda's former bodyguard grabbed Link** and started to lead him off. His friends followed close behind, all the while marveling at all the stained glass and exquisite artwork of the castle interior. Impa led them all through several winding stairways and down many long hallways. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they stopped in front of a small wooden door where two guards were standing watch.

It had been beautifully carved, but was a little too obscure to be the entrance to the Princess's bedroom.

"This is Zelda's room?" the diminutive Deku Shrub asked aloud.

"Of course not," Impa replied. "The Princess would never sleep anywhere in this area of the castle! How could you ever think such a thing?"

"Then what is it?"

"This is a washroom."

Slowly, one of the guards opened the door. Inside an enormous bathtub sat, just waiting to be used. Fragrant soap and potpourri filled vases adorned the room. The servants inside were prepared to cater to any of the weary travelers' needs. A beautiful, multi-paned stained glass window provided light, throwing a dazzling mixture of color onto the lightly painted walls. Link and his comrades could do nothing but breathe in the aroma.

They were beginning to go into a trance, so Impa snapped them out of their daydreams.

"If any of you wish to meet the Lady Princess, the first thing you will have to do is wash up. You're all quite filthy," she stated matter-of-factly.

Right then, Link looked down at himself. His tunic was once a bright green, but now it was ripped in many places, the white shirt and dirty chain-mail underneath showing. On top of that, the color had faded and the whole tunic had a very fine layer of dirt on it.

As someone in the crowd earlier had stated, his clothes were pretty shoddy.

Link then glanced at his friends, who were also just as dirty. Jaden looked like a grubby peasant wearing a potato sack. The Goron behind him wore nothing at all, save for a beard that had turned to rock from years and years of mineral deposits slowly building up in it. Zeta's clothing had deteriorated into what amounted to a pair of leather briefs and her leather top. All the Deku Shrub wore was a plain gray hat, which by now had several holes in it.

Each of them had been through immense pain and suffering, so it was only fitting that they looked like it.

"All of you go inside," Impa ordered them. "Quickly now, time is of the essence."

Seconds before he reached the entrance, a great force shoved Link into the stone wall.

"Where are your manners? _Ladies go first!_" exclaimed Zeta, pushing the Hylian aside.

As she strolled in, a female servant took her hand and led Zetalyn to the tub. The others walked in just as the servant rudely dunked her into the bubbly water. The woman produced a very large scrub brush from off the adjacent wall. For her tactlessness in dealing with the Legendary Hero, Zeta would be given "special attention".

When the door closed again, Impa turned around to finish attending to her duties. The day was not over, and there were many more things to do and she needed to be elsewhere. It was then that she stepped in something soft that immediately ruined her nice boots.

Brown and sticky described whatever it was best. Impa tried to shake it off but it remained firmly adhered to the bottom of her shoe. Grimacing, the Shiekah woman pointed to the carpet while addressing one of the guards.

"Get somebody to clean this up…"

**-Back in the real world...-**

**Like always**, Zeta was quickly growing impatient.

"Where is Link?" she thought aloud. "That bum better get out here soon before I go belly up!"

Even though it was only nine in the morning, the sun was still scorching hot. The summers in Hyrule were known to be extremely hot and humid.

Zeta's question was answered and her threat dispelled as the castle's drawbridge slowly lowered. When it finally creaked into position, three people walked across the bridge and onto the fairgrounds.

The first was obviously Link. His green hat was unmistakable.

The second was a woman, Impa apparently. She seemed to be carrying a large, brightly colored shield.

Unfortunately, Zeta had no absolutely clue who the third person was. The newcomer was obviously blonde, female, and Hylian. Her attire was much, much different, as she appeared to be wearing armor. The woman's protection consisted of a steel, breastplate with gold embroidery and a metal skirt with a very light pink dress underneath that went down to the lady's ankles.

As they walked towards them, Zeta noticed that the woman was also carrying a metal staff. It was about as tall as she was, and looked to be a rather formidable weapon.

When they at last met up, Link was the first to greet them.

"Ah, greetings," he said cheerily. "Sorry I made you wait so long. Had to get my hat back from the tailors."

His four companions all sighed heavily, not particularly caring all that much about the status of his hat.

Then, for a reason Zeta didn't understand, Jaden immediately knelt down, bowing low in front of the woman in gilded armor.

"What's wrong with you? Your shoe untied again, little boy?" she asked, scratching her head.

The Sheikah boy gave her a look filled with a million obscenities.

"That's Princess Zelda!" he said through clenched teeth. "Kneel down this instant!"

Turning purple with rage, the Zora woman was ready to hit Jaden, but instead of doing that, she suppressed her anger and knelt down in front of the Princess along with her friends, grumbling under her breath the whole time.

"Please stand up," Zelda said. "We really should be leaving if we want to get to the ranch before the day ends."

As they stood, Impa positioned herself in front of the Princess Zelda, firmly stopping her from moving any further. A painfully stern look was directed at the King's daughter.

"Are you positive this is what you want to do?" she asked, holding up the shield to block Zelda's path. "I'll not be able to help you should you get into some kind of trouble. On top of that, I can only lie for you for so long before your father starts asking questions that I can't answer."

"Trouble? _Ha!_" the Princess laughed. "If anything happens the Legendary Hero here will be around to protect me."

Link smiled nervously as the tall Sheikah walked up to him and got in his face.

"Mark my words...may the Goddesses have mercy on your soul should any harm come to the Princess, because _I won't!_" Impa snarled protectively. "Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes Lady..." the Hylian stammered. "I will...make sure."

Zelda's former caretaker then handed Link the shield. It was made of good, solid steel and would be very unlikely to break. On the front, the scarlet eagle of the Royal Family had been painted, along with the golden symbol of the Triforce.

"A Hylian Shield," Link said. "Very sturdy. Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's strong steel," replied the Sheikah woman. "May it protect you on your journey."

At that point, Impa simply turned and headed back towards the castle, leaving the hero and his party to begin their long, difficult quest.

**-Mere minutes later-**

**Link fixed his hat**, lashed the shield to his back and started walking. The Princess followed behind, along with the others, who were eager to know what exactly was going on. All they knew was that they were going south for some unknown reason.

Most certainly, Zeta was not thrilled at the prospect of having to cater to royalty. Thoughts of dumping the royal off at the nearest trade-post and forgetting about her played through her Zoran mind, and she smiled deviously to herself.

To her great surprise, she found that Zelda was walking right along side her.

"Your Highness!" she exclaimed. "I…um…I didn't see you there."

The Princess wore a smirk that told she knew what the Zora was thinking about. Zelda wasn't going to bring it up though, as she knew that not everybody likes everybody else and was willing to live with it.

"Do you...uh...do you know where we're going?" asked the fish woman.

"From what I know, the horse ranch just south of here," the Princess replied. "It shouldn't take us any more than a few hours to get there."

"Ah, I see. We need horses."

"That's correct."

Had Zelda taken horses from the stables at the castle, her father would have been alerted to at least some of the nature of her expedition, which would be undesirable. For now, they were headed to Lon Lon Ranch at the center of the fields of Hyrule.

For the next few minutes the two women traveled in complete silence. Link led them down the city's side streets, so as to avoid being mobbed again by passing through the Market Square. It worked well, as not a single person stopped them to ask for an autograph.

It was smooth sailing all the way.

Eventually, they reached the city gates, where a few guards stood watch. Zelda handed them the letter she had forged, and was allowed to leave the city with her party.

As they stepped onto the grass of Hyrule Field, they could see Lon Lon Ranch in the distance. There, at the most famous ranch in the whole kingdom, they would be able to secure horses and essential supplies. Meat, milk, and firewood would be all they needed for now, all easily attainable at the ranch.

Just before they could begin their trek, Zeta stopped the Princess in her tracks.

"Forgive me, my lady, but may I ask why you are accompanying us?" she asked in her most respectful tone.

Zelda thought about that for a minute before replying.

"That's simple," answered the Princess. "I have diplomatic immunity."

**End Chapter Two**

_**Proceed to Chapter Three!**_


	3. PERIL

_-Spawned from the black pits of the netherworld is an unmistakably evil force that has been the pain and the ultimate downfall of many potential heroes._

_Those who stand against the power either perish, or spend the rest of their lives in fear. Believe it or not, a leader with one of the most ruthless and tactically cunning minds in recent history commands this band of almost invincible creatures._

_The Death Knights kill and maim under the strict hand of Treb, a defector from the ranks of Hyrule's army. They track down their targets with a hitherto unknown single-mindedness, never relenting until their prey is cold and dead._

_A squadron of these elite killing machines have been sent by Gorkhan to seek out the Legendary Hero and destroy him..._

_**Chapter Three: PERIL**_

**The Desert Colossus**

A Hylian man bowed low in the opulence of the desert tent of Gorkhan, the Gerudo King. His armor was finely made, his sword was sharp and ever ready, and his heart was as black as night. He knew he was a traitor, that he had betrayed one master for another. He no longer cared. At long last, he would command again, be the general he was always meant to be.

General Antono Treb received his orders and quickly exited as Gorkhan sat silently, lost in the complexity and brilliance of his own plans.

The king pondered the thought of controlling the Triforce of the Gods, of shaping the world to his own ideals and designs. There were barriers between him and his prizes, though. Standing from his chair, he moved over to his study area. He gulped down a bit of wine, all that was left in his goblet, and stared viciously at the scroll in front of him.

His own research had clearly shown him what needed to be done. The pieces would resonate when together. Capture and kill the owner, then take the piece for yourself from his or her cold, dead corpse. This is what he knew he had to do. He would need both pieces for himself if he wanted to have any shot at tackling the third.

The hero would be no match for his new general and the creatures he commanded. The best course of action would be to kill him as soon as possible.

Recalling the last time that he had seen Princess Zelda, years ago when she was still a puny little girl, the Gerudo King laughed as he thought of how easily she would fall under his power.

**Lon Lon Ranch**

"'Yee_haw!_ Lon Lon Ranch'!" Dreck exclaimed as he viewed the enormous sign above him from on top of the huge Goron's shoulder. "What a ridiculous thing to put on a sign. Such bad advertising."

"Yeah, don't get your tunic in a bunch. It's just a smelly old horse farm," Zeta said, not sure why this sudden outburst from the little Deku had been over something so insignificant.

Indeed, the horse ranch was not the largest in the kingdom, but it had enough acreage to be sizeable enough to double as a racetrack if it wanted to. Link stepped into the ranch's wide pasture as he breathed in the aroma of the all too familiar scenery.

The outer perimeter of the ranch was completely surrounded by a fifteen foot high, brick and mortar fence, built long ago for uncertain purposes. It was rumored that long ago in more ancient times that it might have been a fortress, and that the fence was, in fact, the remains of the great walls. None of those rumors could be proven true or false, as the records regarding the ranch had been destroyed many years past during the Hyrulean Civil War, when the town of Kakariko was sacked and burned and the library there turned to ash and charcoal.

Thankfully, the interior of the ranch did not match its truly dreadful exterior. Upon entering the gate, one would have seen the main farmhouse to the immediate left, a long building with multiple floors and a high roof. It was primarily a wooden structure, and was painted, though not with much skill, the same plain grey that most Hylian buildings were colored. The house, like the large stable building to its right, had only one human-sized door to pemit entrance, and the two buildings together, being spearated by about twenty feet, created something of a corridor that lead from the main entrace to the gates of the ranch itself.

Upon passing through the gates, one would have been met with a flat, though luscious green bit of acreage. The ranch itself was small, perhaps no more than a square kilometer, but within that was grown the best grazing grass in all of Hyrule. A eliptical, wrought iron fence stood in the center of this space, with gates every few hundred yeards or so, that separated the horses from the cows. About this fence was a dirt track, with jumping obstacles, again, every few hundred yards, that was used for training the horses as well as, on occasion, racing.

Link noticed that not a thing had changed.

Dozens of chickens were running about, occasionally darting underneath the hero's legs. Similar to chickens in other parts of the world, the Hylian cucco is known for its beautiful white feathers and it's independent spirit. Putting them in a pen is usually not a good idea, as they can fly for short distances. Their meat is always quite tender, and the eggs they produce are considered delicacies in all parts of Hyrule.

In the distance, several cows were grazing. Milk from these particular cows is considered very delicious, and can fetch quite a high price. A fully-grown bull from Lon Lon Ranch, sold simply for the purposes of animal husbandry, was worth ten times that of the best of horses raised there. This of course, made the ranch a piece of prime real estate.

The owners' simple farmhouse continued to stand in the foreground, looking for all the world like still it needed a few more coats of paint.

A loud noise startled Link from his recollections of days past as he witnessed a large horse galloping towards him from across the field. The brown hair and the friendly eyes of the animal were been a sight for his sore eyes. Epona the mare ran towards him, easily bounding over the obstacles that had taken Link so long to coax the horse into jumping.

Link bolted away from the group and ran towards his faithful old friend who had been there for him during all those times had saved the world. He had found a true companion in the horse years before, only to lose her when he was returned to his child-like state. The Legendary Hero started to laugh aloud when he ran towards his old mount, nearly jumping with joy.

Returning Epona to the ranch had been one of the hardest things he ever had to do, but he had done it stoically at the time. Link began to chuckle as Epona galloped toward him, suddenly overcome with emotion.

Blinded to the world around him by the sight of his trusted friend, he promptly tripped over a rock and smacked into the ground face first.

Recovering moments later, he rubbed his head and looked around before his eyes set upon yet another familiar personage. Talon, the father of Malon who had a strange way of falling asleep at the most annoying times, was standing directly over him. The rather portly Hylian man stuck his nose into Link's face and hollered quite loudly and with a thick accent.

"Howdy stranger!" exclaimed Talon. "Whoa! Looks like you done took a spill."

Link blinked a few times, then got to his feet. He was otherwise uninjured, save for a bit of pain in his neck.

"Yes, it appears I have," replied the hero, holding his head. "Thank you for pointing that out."

From behind him, Link could hear his companions laughing hysterically at him.

He steadied his feet and looked up to see Epona standing next to him. The horse sniffed him twice with its great nostrils, then licked Link's cheek once with its great tongue. Epona then appeared to have no more emotion, as if she too were embarrassed by what had just happened.

Talon scratched the mare behind the ear and walked off back towards the farmhouse, stopping only to say, "Don't steal nothin'!"

It had been a strange encounter indeed.

Link rubbed Epona's mane and gently patted her on her back, making her nuzzle up against his hand. The two of them both seemed to return to a state of bliss at their reunion.

"Why is he so happy to see a dumb horse?" Zeta asked as they all watched the Legendary Hero become simply ecstatic over an animal.

"Link and Epona have been through much. They have endured many trials together and have saved the lives of countless people. This excellent creature is one of the most highly held friends of the Legendary Hero," Zelda explained in the most haughty and know-it-all tone of voice she could muster..

The archer scoffed under her breath as the Princess continued to drone on about the marvelous beast that had aided Link many times in the past. Zelda went into some detail about Link and Epona's adventures in Termina, Holodrum, and Labrynna, but the Zora woman had ceased paying attention to the Princess almost immediately.

Zeta watched quietly as the Hylian patted the horse and she found herself smiling warmly at the sight. She had never seen the Legendary Hero grinning so broadly before. She was amazed at how he showed so much joy over a simple beast of burden, and yet could be so deadpan when it came to other matters. In her heart, she wished that perhaps someday she might be able to experience that kind of feeling again, but feared, as she always did, that it had already left her forever.

In order to keep up her callous facade, she rolled her eyes.

Link mounted his beloved horse and scratched the back of the mare's rough neck. He was now lost in recollection of his old travels with Epona. Just being on her back again, even without a saddle, made the feeling of the wind rushing through his hair return. Link had dreaded giving her back to the ranch time and time again, but no matter how much time he spent with Epona, the truth was she didn't really belong to him.

He gazed dreamily into the sky as a voice snapped him out of his trance.

Standing in front of his horse was a beautiful young lady, presumably one of the hired hands.

"Excuse me, do you have some business here?" the dazzling woman said as she gazed directly into the Legendary Hero's eyes.

The lady gripping Epona's mane had the very brightest of red hair. It was fiery crimson in color, and flowed down her back in a single sweep. Though her dress was quite plain, and rather dirty, it was form-fitting and showed off the luscious and overtly attractive form underneath.

This was Malon, the woman in was really charge of the ranch.

She had to take a good look before she recognized him.

"_Wait_ a minute! _LINK!_ By the will of the fairies I never thought I'd see you again!" Malon cried out as she rocked back on her haunches and then threw herself, bodily, at the Legendary Hero.

Link, naturally taken aback by this sudden outburst of emotion, grasped her tightly as she slammed into him at full force. The laws of physics stated that he should be knocked from his mount, and that is exactly what happened. He toppled off Epona and hit the ground with a bone-crunching thud as Malon fell on top of him.

Very suddenly, he found himself in a very compromising situation.

Of course, he felt something familiar, it was an unexpected and unwelcome feeling in public like this. Link wasn't entirely sure how to extricate himself from this new situation. As a burgeoning celebrity in Hyrulean society, he'd grown used to young women diving at him, and had learned to dodge them quite effectively. This time, however, with one of the girls finally pinning him down, he felt totally helpless and confused.

The young Hylian just didn't know how to deal with it. He was confused, but he liked it, and the muscles of his face betrayed him.

The Princess, momentarily startled by Link's name being yelled behind her, turned to see the Legendary Hero lying under a peasant girl who seemed to be grasping him tightly while he smiled stupidly and made no attempt to get out from underneath her.

What made Zelda furious was that Link continued to showed no effort to remove her from his body.

Something was burning now in the back of her mind. The flames grew and grew, pushing forward and taking over her body. Zelda's face grew hot, and she was turning colors. The heat began to spread all over, and when it reached her stomach, it began to turn it foul.

Never before in her life did Zelda have such negative feelings towards another person, except perhaps for Ganondorf, whom she legitimately hated, and for good reason. Years of attending banquets, conversing with nobles, and being catered to had instilled in her a sense that she should always be regal and proper. That went flying out the window when she laid eyes on Link being smothered by a common girl, who she deemed not worthy of his attention.

A very angry Princess Zelda stormed over to where Link was lying.

"_What_ do you think you are _doing_?" Her Majesty snarled through her teeth.

Zelda's voice shook the young proprietress from her stupor, and she turned her head to see the source of the query.

Malon shrugged and climbed off of Link, pulling him up as she laughed aloud. The Hero opened his mouth to begin to protest, but the redhead held up her hand to silence him. Never being one to back down, Malon accepted the challenge present in Zelda's tone of voice. She couldn't care in the least how royal her adversary was, or what the consequences might be for what might happen in the next few moments.

"Where do you get off yelling at me?" Malon countered with her hands positioned hard on her slender hips. "This is _my_ ranch!"

"Do you _know_ who you are talking to, _peasant?_" the Princess roared.

"I really don't care who you are! I'm allowed to hug an age old friend if I feel like it!"

"I doubt the Legendary Hero would want such a lowly, pathetic tramp hanging all over him like some _love-sick puppy!_"

"Well at least he's better off with me then with some stuck-up, high-class, _brown-nosed snob!_"

"You are nothing more than a _dirty, common whore!_"

"Oh yeah, well you're just an _ugly, egotistical trollop!_"

The Princess had never laid a hand on one of her subjects before, but at the end of that sentence Zelda lost all of her self-control. She swung her arm out and slapped the beautiful girl square in the face.

Malon, violent with rage, swung back and left a scarlet handprint on Zelda's cheek.

No one had ever, in history, dared to strike a member of the Royal Family. Malon had crossed the line, and the Princess would make her pay. Before the farm girl could apologize, an outraged Zelda charged her, bringing her swiftly to the ground. Fists began to fly and hair started to get pulled and there was much screaming and kicking.

The group rushed over to try to break it up but Zeta held them back.

"Let them fight it out. Better not to get involved in a catfight like this," she said offhandedly, clearly amused. "Somebody's gonna get a bone broken."

"But we _can't_ let them do this!" Gonga replied. "They'll fight to the _horrible, bloody finish!_"

"Gonga's right, Master Link," said Jaden. "Listen, I don't know if I should be jealous of you for having two ladies fight over you like this, or if I should feel sorry for you because I know you're stuck in the middle of it, but seriously, yeah, one of them is gonna die, and frankly, I've got my money on the redhead winning."

Knowing full well what he was getting into, Link dove between the two ladies to try and calm down the vicious squall that had been going on over him.

Two balled fists came rushing towards him, one from the left and one from the right. They simultaneously hit him with a force and a rage he had never known. Link could feel the jealousy present in the blows just as much as he could the intense pain.

His courage held up, but his body didn't. A dizzying pain came to his jaw as stars whirled round his head. In a few seconds was Link stumbling around, rubbing the red marks where Zelda and Malon had both punched him.

"_Link!_" the two girls both yelled as they realized what had just happened.

"_See_ what you did you _scum!_" Zelda hollered into Malon's ear.

"_Me?_ It was _you_ who hit him!" the redhead screamed back.

Zelda and Malon continued to bicker and fight as Link stood up and dusted himself off. He'd never been punched like that before in his life. The power of their blows had knocked his green hat clean off.

The hero ignored the pain for the time being and glanced back at the two rivals. Jade and Gonga had already separated and restrained them, so he bent over and scooped up his fallen hat.

He placed it back on his head just before an arrow pierced the ground where the hat had been.

Then another hit the same spot.

This was followed by another.

That one was followed by yet another.

"_Hide! Run!_" Link bellowed.

He scooped up Malon under one arm and Zelda under another. Despite their protests, Link ran for the stables as the Renegades drew their weapons and waited for the attack to fully commence.

_**In the darkness…**_

It is said that in the deepest regions of the Gerudo Fortress there is a sacred training center for the most elite fighting forces. In his travels, the Legendary Hero had encountered only the most lowly of the assassins taught there, and they had put him through his paces much more than most other creatures had.

Now he would have to face two fully trained and extremely deadly women.

Out of the four deadliest Gerudo in the world, these two were sent to destroy the last faction of resistance against Gorkhan. The decree was written in an ancient language that had long since been forgotten. Upon this piece of parchment was the order from Gorkhan to the two assassins.

So'Prano and A'lto were the two that had been selected for this job. So'Prano was hired to take care of the Legendary Hero, and A'lto was to destroy the Renegades. One might stop to wonder how two ordinary human females were supposed to stop a band of fighters who could easily hold their own against the Death Knights.

Obviously, these girls were out of the ordinary.

So'Prano, an elite soldier of the Gerudo, was strong, beautiful, and if her hair had been placed in a different style and her skin more pale, one would swear she was a clone of Impa. She carried a long, curved sword of blood red and a dagger of pure darkness. The sword had seen many a battle and had felled numerous Hyrulean soldiers and warriors.

It was said that this instrument of mass destruction was bathed in the blood of one of the Great Fairies, increasing its striking power tenfold.

A'lto was a younger, more inexperienced fighter, but possessed the eyesight of a hawk. A warrior who had seen much bloodshed but never combat, she was a sight to see, an unwilling witness to the horrors of the Hyrulean Civil War. Her reddish brown hair appeared to sparkle, a distraction that could lead many to their deaths. She was armed with a bow and a quiver of black arrows that, when fired, seemed to darken the surrounding sky.

Gorkhan had trusted So'Prano with the utmost responsibility of the task. She was to guide and watch if the others failed.

She remembered the talk well.

_**A few days before at the Gerudo Fortress**_

"Well my little Gerudo, have you chosen to accept my offer?" Gorkhan asked of the shadows.

She warily strode from the dank corner of the dreadful throneroom. Her hair tight in her bun and her sword unsheathed in her hand ready in case a few Death Knights might be waiting to ambush her.

"My sisters and I will take the contract. But, my liege, I will take care of the Legendary Hero," she answered with a great measure of confidence.

"I have the utmost faith in you So'Prano," said the King. "And in case your sisters fail…you must uphold your end of the contract."

"We shall not fail my lord. We are Gerudo. Never have we failed a mission."

"You had _best_ not!" Gorkhan sternly said. "And…I expect you to bring me the Legendary Hero alive."

So'Prano was taken aback by this sudden request, as she had never been asked to bring back a target alive. Every person she had been set against ended up dead or severely wounded. This new job disgusted her, and she showed it freely.

"Sire, we do not do our jobs half-assed. We finish off our targets and _that is that._ To ask us to bring him back alive is to ask us to go against our code of honor!"

Gorkhan's eye visibly twitched at her last statement.

"And to disobey me is to _feel my wrath!_" he bellowed as black sorcery shot from his hands and enveloped her.

So'Prano screamed in agony as the dark fire burned around her from, and she dropped to her knees, her sword clattering on the stone floor where it fell from her hand.

"This is _pain,_ my dear So'Prano!" Gorkhan cruelly sneered. "You shall feel _ten thousand times_ worse should I not hear what I want!"

The flames stung all over her body, charring her flesh. The Gerudo woman curled up into a ball, trying to make the pain stop by gnashing her teeth and retreating ever further into herself.

It kept coming. Bit by bit, it got stronger, overpowering her will so that she could do nothing but submit to her master's strength.

"_Stop! Please stop! I'll do it!_" she shrieked with all the air left in her lungs.

Gorkhan waved his hand through the air once and the black flames vanished into the nothingness from which they came.

Dazed, So'Prano slowly got to her feet. When she looked herself over, she found to her amazement, that there were no burn marks. The suffering her king had put her through was only to teach her a lesson in total obedience. She would not forget it any time in the near future.

Seeing that there was no real damage except to her pride, she quietly accepted the assignment.

As she headed for the door, So'Prano heard Gorkhan mutter one last thing.

_"Women…they always want to do things the hard way. I must make sure that she doesn't ruin my plans…"_

**Back at Lon Lon Ranch**

So'Prano snapped back to reality as her sister shot a black as night arrow into the open air towards her target. From their perch atop the storehouse on the other side of the ranch, they had a perfect view of their surroundings. The younger sibling drew back on her bow and unleashed another black arrow of death.

A'lto was known for her excellent trademark shot and supposedly never missing her targets.

However, this time she seemed to have been less than accurate.

"You fool! Has no one told you you're absolutely _terrible_ at this?" the elder shrieked as the younger recoiled in fear of a swift blow from her sister.

"It wasn't my fault sister. The presence of the creatures has been distracting me!" replied the archer.

"No excuses!" her sister replied. "_Death Knights! Charge!_"

Twenty-five Death Knights rose up from underneath the ground. They split the earth and climbed out, bringing with them their giant swords. Ganondorf himself had learned the secrets of forging these armored Moblins, and he made many out of his pure evil and hatred for Hyrule. Each one a ton of sinewy muscle, these dark and desolate fighters would attack without mercy, and they lived only to kill.

They had never failed a task, primarily because they had never been deployed en-masse before. Today was that day, and the ground would quake at their passing. They would test themselves now against the Legendary Hero and the Blade of Evil's Bane.

They rushed forward, yelling their blood-curling scream into the air as the two assassins disappeared into the shadows.

**The Farmhouse**

"_Oh shit! Here they come!_" Dreck yelled from on top of his perch.

He had rappelled up onto the roof of the farmhouse, and stood now with his hookshot at the ready.

The Deku took careful aim as he watched the charging Knights scare the cows and horses into a stampede. Luckily for his friends, they were stampeding in the opposite direction.

At the front line stood Gonga and Zeta, silently waiting for the battle to commence. The first of the evil Moblins made a beeline towards the Goron, raising its gigantic blade above its head to strike a fatal blow.

Gonga reacted quickly, and rolled up into a tight ball. The Knight's sword clanged hard, but uselessly, against the rock man's mineral encrusted backside. Standing, the Goron prepared to strike back.

"By Farore's Wind you _shall not_ have us this day!" Gonga yelled as he drew up his warhammer and brought it down hard on the head of the Death Knight. The creature's head was turned into a pulp, and the Goron balled his mighty fist and punched the charging, black armored Moblin that followed its now dead fellow, sending it reeling before following up with another strike with his hammer that put the beast down for good.

Stunned for a slight second by the truly noble and smart exclamation from the large Goron, Zeta snapped back into position as she heard the unmistakable sound of an arrow whizzing past. A solid black arrow buried itself into the ground at her feet. The dark tip sizzled and scorched the earth as it burned away the soil and grass.

"_Son of a bitch_…they have poisoned tipped arrows!" the Zora yelled to the others.

In revenge, she unleashed a flurry of her own arrows back into the evil mass swarming towards the barn.

Swords, arrows, hammer thwacks, and hookshot blasts flew everywhere as the two sides collided with each other. The opposing forces were totally lopsided, and it seemed the immense force Gorkhan had sent after the group would overwhelm the Renegades.

Then the sides were suddenly evened.

Bursting from the barn, Link cut through the Moblin ranks just in time as Dreck was knocked from the roof of the house. The Legendary Hero dove out and caught his little Deku friend. He placed him on his feet as he brought his shield up to block a crushing blow from a Death Knight.

The Hylian and the Moblin were now locked in mortal combat.

Sparks flew as the hero's sword hit the Moblin's. The Master Sword glowed brightly as it easily withstood the force of the evil blade opposing it. Link then swung the sacred sword in a sideways arc, cutting through the Death Knight at the weak point in the armor at the midsection in one swift motion.

As the Knight separated into two equal halves, Link rebounded and faced another group of hellions.

"Zeta, there are three behind you! Dreck you have two above you! Gonga keep up the attack! _We've got them on the run!_" the hero shouted triumphantly.

The only one who had yet to do anything was Jaden. His eyes were closed, and he was quietly listening to the sounds of the raging battle. With his large pointed ears, he could determine everyone's exact position just by the sound of his or her footfalls. The Sheikah boy inhaled slowly, waiting patiently for his enemies to reveal themselves.

He could hear light footsteps very close to him, and he could tell they were coming from someone other than his friends. Jaden opened his eyes, catching a glimpse of two figures darting past him. They moved speedily behind the action, ready to spring an ambush on the Legendary Hero.

Jaden bounded to where he saw the two shadows grouping. He drew his dagger and called out to the figures.

"Come out and fight _cowards!_" he demanded.

His voice seemed to startle them, as they both jumped up. One ran away in fear, while the other stood defiant and stepped forward.

From the darkness emerged a young woman. Slender and dark skinned, she was very alluring. In her hands she held a long curved sword, the steel of the blade a deep crimson red.

A look of contempt spread across her face as she stared at her opponent.

"_Pathetic fool!_ You really believe you can stop me?" yelled So'Prano. "You'll feed my sword another coat of blood!"

With that, she attacked. Her speed was blinding, and she closed the distance between them in an instant. A slash of So'Prano's blade nearly caught the Sheikah, but he too was fast. He dodged her thrust, then parried with his dagger, frustrating the Gerudo assassin to no end.

She was quick, but so was Jaden. If he had been born anyone else he would have been dead and in several pieces by now.

But Jaden wasn't any ordinary boy.

"I am Sheikah! I was trained by the great Impa, and _I will fall to no one!_"

His taunt made her step back a bit, giving him the chance he needed. Jade jumped forward, spearing the Gerudo hard in the stomach with his shoulder and bringing her to the ground.

Her sword went flying out of her hands, landing some distance away near the farmhouse. The second she was unarmed, the boy turned on his heel and ran for the sword. He grabbed it just as a dagger flew past his face, lodging itself firmly in the wooden siding of the farmhouse. A warm trickle of blood flowed down his cheek from a long cut. Jaden would have a scar from that, and he briefly thought to himself that if he survived the encounter, it might make him look more dashing.

Jaden never got to finish his frantic musing as suddenly the woman bounded towards him, kicked him swiftly in the stomach, grabbed her sword from his hand, then flipped backwards.

Hesitation had been his downfall, allowing her speed to overcome his indecisiveness. He vowed to never again take his mind and his eyes off his opponent.

The young Sheikah, struggled to stand, most of the air already kicked out of him, and consigned himself to fate. He stared angrily at his attacker, ready to fight, but also ready to die.

Today was his day to meet the Goddesses.

She stood there, only five feet away from him, and held the blade at her side nonchalantly as an evil smile crept across her lips. The Gerudo assassin pointed the blade directly at him and moved to speak.

"_Ha Ha Ha!_ The blood of many shall be joined by the blood of one more! _Destroy_ this child, and send him down to the netherworld!" she screamed as she dove forward.

Her blade dug deep and pierced hard into the surface. Fragments of wood shattered around as she pulled it out of her target.

The boy had vanished.

The Gerudo woman yelled curses in four different languages as she witnessed Jaden bounding across the roof, still in one piece with no injuries worth noting.

He was followed by a small little Deku Scrub holding a hookshot.

**Inside the Barn**

"If he thinks I am going to sit here and wait for him, he's sadly mistaken," Zelda grumbled as she lifted her staff, readying for battle.

"Oh, Link saved me! I hope he comes out okay. I just need to thank him oh so dearly," Malon cooed as she dreamed of the silky blonde hero touching her skin gently. The red-haired woman stared down Zelda after she said this. Clearly it was spoken so as to get a rise out of her.

The Princess gagged at the mere thought.

"_Muzzle it!_ As if he would give you the time of day!" Zelda mumbled under her breath as she slid out the back of the barn.

Zelda wasn't afraid of anything, not even the Death Knights. Underneath the surface image of a stuck up, regal princess was the heart of a warrior. However, what she was about to see would give her nightmares for the rest of her life.

While running over to join the battle, she saw a shadow bound up into the only tree on the entire estate. Wondering what it was, she moved closer to investigate.

Her answer was not one of delight but of horror. She glimpsed a bowstring being drawn back and an arrow fly from this unknown attacker. Zelda turned her head to see the arrow pierce into the skin of its target.

The black as night arrow ripped through the silky cloth and then through the ringed chain-mail as the target fell to his knees.

Zelda shrieked in terror as she watched the wounded warrior drop the brightly gleaming sword. The blade fell from twitching hands to the soft grass below, useless there as a weapon.

The Legendary Hero was hit.

The mysterious attacker jumped down, revealing her true face.

A'lto had finally hit her mark. Her arrow struck Link in the small of his back, and the assassin watched with pleasure as he began to slump over.

Zelda, crying freely, held her hand out to the fallen hero, unable to move. The sheer horror of the moment made her knees buckle, and she too dropped to her knees. Her blood burned, and her heart bled as if it too had been pierced by the arrow.

Link gasped, trying to grab at the arrow lodged in his back. Searching for his assailant, his eyes fell upon Zelda, and the Gerudo woman holding the bow.

Before losing consciousness, he used his last bit of strength to reach a hand out to Princess Zelda.

Then, the hero collapsed and fell.

**End Chapter Three**

_**Proceed to Chapter Four!**_


	4. PSYCHE

_-Favored by the Goddesses, the Hylians are endowed with many magical qualities. Tall, slender, strong, natural spell-casters, they are an extremely intelligent and industrious people. _

_These qualities, and more, allowed them to quickly become the dominant race in the land of Hyrule, firmly establish their kingdom, and form alliances with other races._

_Perhaps the greatest asset a Hylian has is his or her mind._

_It has many different powers that to this day still go untapped…_

_**Chapter Four: PSYCHE**_

**Inside the farmhouse**

The bloddy battle was, at last over.

Broken swords and Moblin corpses littered the ground, turning the once green grass a sickly shade of red. Those Death Knights that had not been killed or wounded were called back by their masters.

It had been less than ten minutes since they had arrived at the ranch before they were attacked. The two mysterious assassins seemed to vanish into thin air, leaving behind only the destruction they had caused. For a short time, it seemed that the Renegades had triumphed.

The victory was a hollow one.

Link was dying.

Princess Zelda cradled the wounded hero in her arms, weeping bitterly. She could tell that he was in the most extreme pain. Link was struggling to breathe, and periodically shifting in and out of consciousness.

Everyone feared the worst.

"Please…please no," Zelda sobbed. "Not now, not like this…"

The hero gave out a yelp, his eyes beginning to glaze over. Tenderly, he brought up his bloodstained left hand and caressed her cheek. It hurt him greatly to do so, but by sheer will he kept it there.

"Don't…don't cry," Link whispered, his voice hoarse.

The Princess did nothing but firmly grasp his hand and continue sobbing. Suddenly, the young hero began to cough violently. Dark red blood began to pool at the corner of his mouth and spill down the side of his cheek. He then began to shake uncontrollably, so much so that Zelda nearly dropped him.

At that point, he once more became unconscious.

Gingerly, Zelda lowered him to the hard, wooden floor. Her eyes grew wide with fear, paralyzing the Princess and holding her in its iron grip. Twenty years of life in a stuffy castle had made her totally unprepared for situations like this. Never in her wildest dreams had Zelda ever once thought about Link possibly getting killed.

He was supposed to be invincible.

The thought of having to live without him made her unbelievably sick to her stomach.

"This isn't really happening!" the Princess exclaimed, shaking her head back and forth.

Jaden quietly approached her just as she had brought her knees up to her chest. He tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort, but Zelda quickly batted it away.

"Your Highness, he is not yet dead," said the Sheikah. "Perhaps there is still a way to save him."

Zelda gave him a look that told him she had already given up.

The Sheikah boy let go of his princess and moved over to where Link was lying. He knelt down beside the fallen hero and checked to see if he was breathing or not.

To his surprise, he still was, albeit shallowly.

At that very moment, the Renegades, accompanied by Malon, burst in through the front door.

"What's wrong with Link?" asked the Zora. "Why the hell is he lying on the floor?

Annoyed by the archer's rudeness, Malon stepped around her to get a better look. When she glimpsed the hero lying on his side, the back of his white shirt stained dark with blood, she shrieked in terror. Running over to him, she grabbed his shoulders and shook, trying to wake him up.

Link didn't move.

_"No!_ Damnit Link, _get up!_" Malon yelled, shaking him violently.

"Stop that!" Dreck nearly screamed. "You could kill him!"

The diminutive shrub man dashed over to Link's side. He pushed the farm girl away and began to examine the wounded Hylian. Protruding from the center of his back almost was the dark arrow.

Dreck furrowed his brow, and tried to think of what to do.

Although an experienced warrior, Dreck was also skilled in the medical arts. Born to a lower class family, his parents worked hard to put him through school. He seemed to have a nature that was distinctly suited for being a doctor, despite his bedside manner.

Dreck graduated from a well respected Hylian medical school near the top of his class. It was later, during his tenure at the grand hospital of the University of Hyrule that he met his future wife. She too, was a young Deku, the only other one beside him who had chosen to be a doctor.

It seemed like a match made in heaven.

Later, they both served in the court of the Deku King in Termina, where many Deku were seen and treated for whatever various ailments afflicted them. For quite a while, he and his wife lived in the swamp, healing Deku Scrubs by the hundreds. Eventually, Dreck learned more and more about the anatomy of other races, and he and his wife became very rich.

Their lives were great, and they were both happy.

One day, he felt it necessary to travel to Clock Town to buy more herbs for his practice. Dreck piled his belongings onto a wagon and set out for the Hylian settlement. His young wife implored him and implored him until he gave up and let her come along. They had made this run several times before, and she just wanted to be with him.

At the time though, the Hyrulean Civil War had yet to end.

Horses appeared on the horizon, racing towards the undefended wagon. It was a band of Gerudo warriors who had been attacking settlements up and down the coast. The amazonian pirates saw fit to have one last raid before heading back to their fortress.

In the opening few moments of the battle, his wife, the girl he loved so much, was killed. They plundered his wagon, took everything he owned, and left the poor doctor for dead on the side of the road.

On that day, as Dreck gingerly cradled his love's mangled body, his oath to do no harm became invalid in his mind. He became a mercenary, training his small, weak frame until he was a powerful warrior, at least for a Deku.

The good doctor never took any money from the many bounties he had collected. Any money he was offered was either politely turned down or given away to the inhabitants of the nearest town.

All this had begun nearly twenty years before, and he was still no closer to putting the grief behind him.

Dreck would get his revenge eventually, but now Link was his primary concern.

"Gonga," he said, "take him and put him on the crates over there."

Carefully, the big Goron lifted the limp form of the hero and gently placed him on top of a stack of wooden crates. He made sure to place Link on his left side, so he wouldn't be lying upon the arrow.

"_Find something that will stop the bleeding!_" Dreck yelled to no one in particular.

Everyone, including Malon and the Princess, searched frantically for anything that could help the injured hero. They tore apart crates, overturned shelves, and went through everything of value that could be found. Many different things had been broken before they all realized there were no medical supplies anywhere in the house.

"Hmm, what we need is cloth," Gonga said, looking thoughtful.

"We have stuff like that in the storehouse," Malon replied.

"Go get it then," ordered Dreck.

As the redhead bolted out the door, the Deku Scrub turned to the Princess. She was still distraught, and he had no idea how Zelda would respond to his request.

"I'm going to need your dress," he plainly stated.

Sure enough, she took it the wrong way.

"You would have me stand in my _petticoats?_" Zelda exclaimed, trying to retain some of her dignity, even though tears were streaming down her face.

"_N_o_!_" the shrub man yelled. "For Din's sake, _tear_ your dress so I can use it to stop the bleeding when I pull the damn arrow out!"

If it would help Link, Zelda would gladly part with her beautiful royal gown. She grabbed the bottom of it with two hands and tore the expensive fabric into several neat strips. Quite embarrassed at the fact that she was not, in fact, wearing a petticoat, and now had bare legs up to her knees, she handed Dreck the cloth.

"Are you _positive_ you know what you're doing?" Princess Zelda asked, the concern in her voice evident.

"Yes, I've dealt with wounds like this a hundred times before," he replied. "Now get his tunic off so I can _pull the damned thing out!_"

Without hesitation, Zelda began to disrobe the hero. First she took off his bandolier, which might have stopped the arrow dead had it been hit instead. She took off his belt and threw it aside, then waited for Dreck to snap the shaft of the arrow so she could remove his tunic.

A sharp crack was heard, and the only thing left now was the arrowhead, which had all but ignored the chain-mail the Link wore underneath his tunic. Dreck had Gonga gingerly remove the hero's mail before pulling out the bloody piece of steel with the utmost care. He found something very peculiar about the arrowhead, and put it aside so he could examine it later.

Sure enough, the second he removed it Link began to bleed profusely.

"_Argh!_ Damn arrow _punctured_ his _lung!_" Dreck yelled.

Everyone gasped. A punctured lung almost always meant death. More and more crimson liquid was coming out of Link's mouth with every breath he took. If something wasn't done quickly, the Legendary Hero would be no more.

"Is there anything we can do?" Zeta inquired, looking very worried.

"I don't think so," answered the Deku. "But we should at least make him comfortable."

Gonga picked the hero up carefully. He carried him across the room to a large pile of straw where he gently laid him down. The Goron folded Link's hands on his chest, then stepped away from the young lad.

"Rest well, Brother," he whispered. "Rest well…"

**Ten minutes later **

Nobody knew what was going to happen. The tension in the air was more than thick enough to cut with the Master Sword. It was still undetermined as to whether or not Link would live.

Dreck quietly paced the room, a doctor worried for his patient's health. He wanted nothing more than to heal his comrade, but he feared the wound was a fatal one.

Zeta nervously fidgeted, unable to sit still. She seemed angry that the first thing uttered by her seemed like a joke, and it sickened her to no end.

Malon had returned with some cloth and some milk. When informed of Link's situation, she became extremely distressed, and shut herself up in her room. Muffled sobs could be heard from atop the stairs.

Gonga stood tall and dignified, and quietly watched over the man who had fought with him so valiantly.

He also stood watch over the Princess, who was busy tending the hero's wounds. Zelda had dried her tears and grabbed hold of her emotions. She would have to be strong if Link was to pull through this.

Dipping a piece of cloth into a bucket of cold water, Zelda placed it on Link's forehead. He had been steadily getting warmer, and it could be deadly should he develop a fever now.

The hero was lying on his back on the pile of dry straw. His tunic had been removed, leaving him with just his silk undershirt. Dreck had expertly tied the remnants of Zelda's dress around Link's torso, effectively stopping the blood loss.

And for the past twenty minutes, the Princess had not moved an inch away from his side, nor would she ever from now on.

Jaden began to think of other possibilities as Zelda continued to tend to the Legendary Hero.

"What else is there?" he asked Dreck.

"I haven't a clue," the Deku responded. "He's deteriorating quickly. Whatever was on that arrow isn't lethal. If it were, Link would already have died. There's something strange about it, something fishy…"

The Sheikah boy picked up the arrowhead that Dreck had removed. The sticky sweet smell of blood was still fresh in the air, but he brought it up to his nose anyway.

"Hey, there's definitely something here," Jaden said.

"Let me see it then kid," the Deku answered, swiping the arrowhead from his hands.

After taking a whiff of it, he came to the same conclusion.

"I guess you're right. There's _some_ kind of liquid on here," Dreck said, looking thoughtful. "It has to be some kind of paralyzing agent, not meant to kill."

"Great! And what is that supposed to mean?" the boy replied.

"It means he can't move a muscle. Whoever the hell fired this arrow wasn't trying to kill Link, only knock him out."

"But they hit him in the back. Why would they do that?"

Dreck scratched his head and furrowed his brow. He struggled to find an explanation and came up with the only one suitable.

"They want something from him," he said. "I don't know what it is, but Link probably has to be alive for it. There was so much going on at the time that I'll bet my hat whoever fired this missed. He got hit in the back instead of the leg."

"They missed?" Jaden exclaimed.

"Yeah kid. You don't shoot someone in the back if ya want to incapacitate them," said the Deku Scrub.

"That's true I suppose…" the boy replied, trailing off.

The conversation ended there. An awkward silence followed, and no one said a thing for the next few seconds. What to do about Link haunted their minds, and froze them into inaction. The poison would not kill him, only leave him unable to move, but his wound most definitely would.

Several different scenarios played themselves out in Dreck's head.

All but one led to Link's demise.

"I have an idea," said the Deku. "I don't know if it'll work though."

"Ugh…what is it now?" Jade replied in a rather cocky tone.

"Hylians are telepathic, aren't they?" asked the shrub man.

"What is telepathic supposed to mean?" the boy answered.

"It means they can read each others minds."

"Oh, great. So the hell what?"

Annoyed at the Sheikah's tone, Dreck felt he shouldn't have to continue explaining himself. Still, he felt that Jaden would have at least some knowledge of Hylian culture from serving the Royal Family.

Evidently the boy didn't know a lot, but he still had somewhat of a grasp on the conversation.

"Okay, I know for a fact that there's some kind of procedure or ceremony thingamo that heals people," Jade said. "But it's only between Hylians I think. I don't know what it's called, and I don't know how long it'll take, but I'm sure it's really complicated."

All of a sudden, Dreck realized something. There was only one person who could possibly help Link at this point, the Princess Zelda.

The two of them found her sitting next to Link, holding his hand gently. She had since stopped crying, and now sat only in silence. Zelda was in a little too much pain to care what anyone had to say, and did not want to be bothered. That of course, did nothing to deter Jaden and Dreck from closing in on her to ask for her assistance.

"Your Highness, may I speak with you?" Jaden said in his most respectful tone.

Zelda shot him a look filled with daggers. She didn't want to hear it.

"Now is really not a good time," she said back, turning away.

"But Princess, we _may_ have found a way to save Link," the Deku Scrub announced.

His statement made her head snap back around, hope brimming in her bright blue eyes.

"How?" she asked. "Speak!"

Taking a step forward, the Sheikah tried to think of a way to eloquently say that they needed her help. The Princess seemed like she wanted nothing other than to stay at Link's side until he finally passed, and it was doubtful she would do anything else.

"We need your help," said Dreck. "Do you know about the procedure that can link your mind to his?"

The Princess nearly laughed aloud.

"_Tell me_ that you're _kidding!_" she exclaimed. "You're talking about the Merging Ceremony. Not only does it take more than two hours to complete, it's only used between betrothed couples to cement their wedding vows. It's the most intimate thing you could possible imagine. I won't do it! I won't force that upon him!"

Only those Hylians with the most developed skills can send telepathic messages, and then only to other Hylians. However, biologically, all Hylians were at least nominally touch-telepaths. The Merging Ceremony itself was mysterious, and rarely used, as in the hands of an inexperienced person it could be very dangerous. The procedure links both minds together briefly, and for a time, a compound person is formed, one mind in two bodies. Those who emerge from it become bound to each other for all the remaining days of their lives, resulting in a long-lasting and fruitful marriage.

It was not a thing to be undertaken by an amateur.

"But Princess, you are the _only_ other Hylian here!" Jaden almost yelled. "That Malon girl chose to lock herself in her room rather than face the situation, and her oaf of a father is asleep somewhere. Plus, their farmhand moved to Labrynna _years_ ago!"

The Princess narrowed her eyes and scowled at the Sheikah boy.

"_Don't_ raise your voice to me! You can't understand what I'll put him though if I join our minds in his current state," Zelda shot back. "The both of us will suddenly know everything about each other. It could heal him, yes, but all our fears, our secrets, our desires, _everything_ comes out in the open! And if I do a rush job the both of us could end up _completely_ insane!"

That made the Sheikah boy shut his mouth then and there. Her words were true. If she didn't spend the proper amount of time preparing herself then it was quite possible that something would go wrong, turning the both of them into invalids.

The one thing the Legendary Hero didn't have was, ironically, time itself.

"Your Ladyship," Dreck began, "he could expire any minute now. There's nothing more I can do to help him. If you want him to live, then you must take the risk."

Forced to accept the truth, and the responsibility, Zelda bit her lower lip. The ceremony would easily cleanse the hero's body of the poison and heal his wound, but could also do more harm than good. If she said a single thing wrong, or put her hands in the wrong place, Link would most surely die.

Still, she had to go through with it, and now she would.

"Okay, but I've never done this before," Zelda admitted. "I've studied it, naturally, but never put it into practice. I'm not sure if I can do it correctly."

"That doesn't matter much," said Dreck. "You can do it, I'm sure."

The Princess narrowed her eyes at him.

"If that's what you want to believe," she snapped. "Right now, I don't care what happens to me. But if something goes wrong, and you feel the need to spare my life, then so be it…"

The Shiekah and the Deku, distressed by her words, distanced themselves. The other Renegades joined them, and they all watched quietly as Zelda let go of Link's hand and knelt down beside him. She unlatched her armor, took it off and put it aside. Zelda smoothed out her dress and sighed heavily, knowing full well that this might not work.

Placing both her hands on the side of his face, she began to chant in ancient Hylian.

_"Gloshna ceptor Farore bintorosh ka. Xel'kant antobok dumvas ja!" _

_"Kaltoth mintak Din certen cal. Xel'kant anrobok dumvas ja!"_

_"Algomanta er Nayru santak ne. Xel'kant anlebok dumvas ja!"_

They didn't know what she meant, but it was fascinating. Zelda began chanting the mysterious words faster and faster, and started rocking back and forth. Then, out of nowhere, she screamed loudly.

It was an unearthly shriek, all the way from the bottom of her stomach. Her body became rigid, her slender hands firmly gripping Link's face.

Out of concern, Jade ran over to the Princess.

When he looked at her eyes, he found they had no color.

_**Inside the mind of a hero...**_

White.

White was the only thing she could see.

Her hands and feet were nonexistent, and she could not even feel her body.

The only thing constant was the whiteness. It seemed pleasant, familiar almost. Floating around, she felt quite comfortable, like she could wrap herself up in it and go to sleep.

Where was she?

Zelda had expected to be immediately flooded with a million different emotions. But this was different. There was no horrible psychological impact upon her, only this numbing void.

It was so empty.

_"Am I dead? I can't be...it's not possible..."_

Her own voice sounded disconnected, like it wasn't really hers. Fear began to creep into her mind, eating away at her sanity.

She wanted it to stop.

_"This isn't really happening!"_ Zelda said again.

As soon as those words ended, the plain white canvas all around her began to take shape. Of the thousands of different colors it could have turned, the first one it chose was green. The greenness itself split into hundreds of different shades of that color, and spread out all around her.

Zelda began to see what looked like trees. Tall and majestic, they soared into the heavens, obscuring the sun's bright rays.

Then she beheld a bridge spanning a small chasm, wood and rope by construction.

Figures appeared on the bridge, two of them.

One had blonde hair, the other, emerald. A boy and a girl, standing together on a wooden bridge.

_"Oh, you're leaving..."_ she said quietly. _"But that's OK, because we'll be friends forever...won't we? I want you to have this Ocarina... Please take good care of it. When you play my Ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit..."_

Without another word, the boy took a few steps back. He then turned and ran in the opposite direction, a tear falling from his cheek as he left. The young girl had with her now only memories of days past.

_"Saria and Link will always be friends…"_

Zelda was heartbroken. She wanted to cry herself, but couldn't. Before the anguish overwhelmed her, she was whisked away to somewhere else. It made her feel dizzy, but she kept her wits about her and held on.

As things materialized, she couldn't help but wonder where she was.

Zelda was in a room now, made entirely of rock. Torches lit the room, throwing sparse shadows across the walls. In front of her stood the boy again, and in front of him was a massive Goron.

With a big bushy beard and spiky hair, he looked incredibly intimidating, much more so than Gonga. The scornful look on his face told of a man who was no mood for any kind of silliness.

From a small pouch, the boy pulled out his ocarina, presumably the one the girl had given him. He brought the instrument to his lips, but hesitated for a moment.

_"Well, that's not quite what I was looking for...I wanted to hear...a tune...something...um...from outside the mountains...something...green...natural..."_ said the Goron.

At his request, the boy began to play a song so lighthearted and carefree that Zelda wanted to dance along with it. The notes permeated the air, filling her heart with joy, and the Goron's too apparently.

He was flailing his arms about like a madman, enjoying himself to the fullest possible extent.

Before she could have too much fun, Zelda was taken away once more

Aquamarine.

That's the word she would have used to describe where she was now. Pristine blue water flowed all around her, obscuring almost everything else. It looked like it might be Lake Hylia, but it couldn't have been, as it was much too small.

Other than the water, there were several old trees sticking out of the lakebed. One of them had fallen over, and was big enough for a child to walk across.

And there were two children standing on the fallen log, yet another girl and boy. While she recognized the boy as the one she had seen before, the girl was a mystery. She seemed to be a Zora, as she was bright blue and nearly blended in with the water.

The Zora girl's face was only a few inches from the boy's.

_"You! You looked cool...cooler than I thought you would, anyway... Just a little! Well, anyway, you saved me, so I guess I'll reward you. What do you wish? Just tell me..."_

Princess Zelda laughed to herself as the boy toppled off the log when the girl advanced on him. It was truly funny as she watched him try to escape her, only to give up in defeat.

The charming scene was interrupted when everything disappeared once more.

_"Where to now?"_ Zelda thought.

Her question was answered when the desert sun nearly blinded her. She still couldn't see her body, but she could feel the intense heat of the midday sun. It bore down on her, making her want to seek out somewhere cool.

Her wish was granted as she was whisked away into a brightly lit room. The brown walls of what appeared to be some kind of temple were scorched from eons of harsh desert sand beating against them.

On the far side of the room was what looked like a young woman. Rather dark in complexion, she was accompanied by the boy in green, who was standing quietly next to her. The both of them were staring at a hole in the wall that looked like maybe only a dog could crawl through.

_"By the way, what is your name, kid?"_ asked the woman. _"__Link?__ What kind of name is that?"_

The young lady said a few more things, to which the boy nodded enthusiastically.

_"If you can successfully get the Silver Gauntlets...I'll do something great for you!"_

Instantly the boy turned a bright shade of red, then dutifully bent over on his hands and knees and crawled into the hole.

After that, the entire experience faded away and Zelda suddenly wasn't there anymore.

This time there was no color at all.

For a while, everything was blank, with nothing moving or happening in the strange void. Then a platform appeared. Around its edges, it had six circular symbols, each representing the elements of the world.

Forest.

Fire.

Water.

Spirit.

Shadow.

Light.

In the center of the ring was the symbol of the Triforce, the holy relic of the Sacred Realm. For a second, the empty triangle in the middle flashed brightly, and a beam of light came from the center of it.

Standing there was a man, dressed in a green tunic with a large sword strapped to his back. He seemed bewildered by his surroundings, as did the Princess. She felt just as disoriented as he did, and was beginning to understand what was happening.

Everything Zelda felt was coming from him. None of the emotions she had felt were her own.

The Princess gazed down and caught a glimpse of a man standing on the symbol of Light. A very fat man, he was dressed in dark red sage's robes with hundreds of little Triforce symbols embroidered on it.

_"The Master Sword-the evil-destroying sword that you pulled out of the Pedestal of Time-was the final key to the Sacred Realm. Link...Don't be alarmed...Look at yourself...!"_ said the man. _"The Master Sword is a sacred blade which evil ones may never touch...Only one worthy of the title of __**"**__Hero of Time__**"**__ can pull it from the Pedestal of Time..."_

Something unexpected hit Zelda from out of nowhere, like a hard slap to the face.

Fear.

Fear of inadequacy. That she would be unable to stand up to the overwhelming evil forces arrayed against her.

_"But, remember...Though you opened the Door of Time in the name of peace...Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, used it to enter this forbidden Sacred Realm! He obtained the Triforce from the Temple of Light, and with its power, he became the __King of Evil__...His evil power radiated from the temples of Hyrule, and in seven short years, it transformed Hyrule into a world of monsters."_ the chubby man continued.

When he stopped talking, Zelda couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. The sage presented the man in green with a shiny yellow medallion.

Then the vision vanished into smoke.

Destruction followed, horrible, horrible destruction.

The City of Hyrule a smoldering wreck.

Burnt corpses, hideous in their trappings littered the ground.

When the man in green stepped out from the temple in the corner of town, they rose up.

They came towards him, craving flesh. They ambled towards him, moaning pitifully.

Oh, how they moaned, how they _shrieked!_

Zelda was absolutely terrified. They were everywhere, coming closer, and the man was surrounded by them. It dawned on her, these were the unfortunate souls who hadn't escaped from Ganondorf.

Ganondorf…

His castle filled the background, radiating evil.

The Princess felt a crippling sense of despair as one of the zombies peered at her from behind its wooden death mask. Evil was running rampant, and all hope was lost.

When the man in green exited the city, the vision disappeared as well.

After that, the visions came quicker, and not so long. Disjointed images bombarded her, one after the other after the other.

A fleeting glimpse of a horse race, and a girl saying her good-byes.

An old man giving away his greatest treasure.

The forest girl, explaining how she had to stay.

A warrior in blue, last of the Sheikah, giving guidance and wisdom.

Death Mountain, fiery and belching smoke.

A dragon vanquished. A people saved.

True Brothers reunited at last.

A shimmering lake, now depleted of its water.

A civilization frozen in ice.

The Zora princess breaking her vows when her world is safe.

A village almost razed to the ground by fire. A people resilient.

In the well, an ancient evil, waiting to take lives.

The darkness replaced by light in the Temple of the Dead.

A woman in stone, carved from desert rock.

Witches capturing a girl in the night, carrying her off.

The girl, brainwashed to serve the needs of her dark master.

Evil ones, two of them, very old. Redeemed in death and taken to be judged by the Goddesses.

The Sages awakened, six of them. But there is still one more.

The warrior in blue, the one who gave assistance, is not who he says he is.

A disguise revealed. A lovely princess in his place. But the deception was necessary, for evil lurks around all corners.

Courage must prevail, and together with Wisdom, will bring the misuse of Power to justice.

An evil king shut away in his tower, away from his subjects.

He is cold and unfeeling. All he wants is more power, and will do anything to get it.

Six barriers are broken by the Arrow of Light.

Hordes of demons fall, and the final showdown approaches.

Wisdom cannot help. She is imprisoned.

Courage and Power clash, their blows heard across the land.

Power defeated by the Master Sword. In death, he curses the other two.

Ganon's Tower collapses, but the heroes live. However, the ordeal is not over.

The holy relic gives life to the fallen one. But his body is warped, reflecting his mind and heart.

He is no longer a man, but a beast.

In one swing, the sword is knocked from the hand of Courage. Wisdom tries to retrieve it, but she is not destined to wield the sword, and cannot pick it up.

Arrows fly and hammers fall.

Darkness is stunned by light, and the sword is back in the hands of its master.

With the Blade of Evil's Bane, the Legendary Hero destroys his foe, bringing the demon monster to the ground.

The Princess of Destiny holds down the King of Evil while the Sages prepare the Seal.

The incantation finished, Evil is locked away in the blackness of the Sacred Realm.

Peace returns to Hyrule, but at a price…

_"I remember this,"_ Zelda thought. _"It was the hardest part…"_

It was hard for her to stand there, to watch herself. She didn't want to be confronted by this, but there was no other option.

She saw before her now the Legendary Hero standing in front of the Princess of Destiny. Nothing was around them except the boundless expanse of the sky.

_"Link, give the Ocarina to me..."_ said the princess.

From his pocket, the hero retrieved the little potato shaped instrument. He handed it to her, and she clasped it to her heart, accepting the feelings he had for her.

"Now, go home, Link. Regain your lost time! Home... where you are supposed to be...the way you are supposed to be..."

The song of the Royal Family came from the Ocarina. Heartbreak and massive loss stabbed at her heart. Zelda felt it acutely.

Suddenly, the hero was gone.

So was the princess.

The flow of time had been changed.

What came next were more images, more feelings. A little slower, a little more deliberate, giving testimony to the lands the hero had saved.

A lost boy who made a mistake by wandering into the forest. Corrupted by greed and saddened by loneliness, he steals a mask from a traveling salesman.

_"I just wanted someone to play with…"_

The mask. It is evil, with a mind of its own. Darkness lurks behind its colorful facade, tempting those who wish to have control over men.

_"Certainly, the Skull Kid had far too many weaknesses to use my power. A puppet that can no longer be used is mere garbage..."_

Two fairies, one black, one gold. Brother and sister, the bond between them eternal.

_"After all this time, Tael, you've gotten really stubborn. Just like someone else I know..._

A tunnel, leading to Termina. The hundred plus miles spanned in the course of only a few seconds. The moon, huge and angry. It hangs in the sky, ready to plummet to the earth.

_"It looks bigger than before. I don't like this…"_

The town prepares for a spectacular night of fireworks. No one comes however, and the festival is ruined.

_"You cowards! Do you actually believe the moon will fall? The confused townsfolk simply caused a panic by believing this ridiculous, groundless theory. You want answers? The answer is that the carnival should not be canceled!"_

Fools. Gravity won't be defied so easily. The moon will kill them all.

An adventure, plagued with danger looms in front of the hero. Four giants must he awaken to stop the coming destruction of the world. Masks that he must collect are spread across the land. Three will changed his shape, and even a fourth is rumored.

He journeys, destroying Evil's minions. Four monsters destroyed, their imprisoned spirits freed. They are gods, and will aid the hero in his quest.

Four giants return the moon to its orbit, and the mask is stripped of its powers.

Still the hero must journey, and leave his new friends behind.

_"Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow. However, that parting need not last forever. Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time...that is up to you."_

Tired and weary, the hero has saved a land in peril, but failed to find the fairy who had aided him when he was in most dire need.

He heads back towards the land of Hyrule, but the power of the Triforce beckons to him from inside a strange castle.

Curiosity gets the better of him, and the hero wanders inside.

But the Golden Power is an illusion. The pieces disappear and the trap is sprung.

However, the trap had a purpose.

_"When shadows fall on Hyrule, a hero shall appear. Is that hero you?"_

The boy finds himself in Holodrum. Once more he is far from his homeland, away from his princess.

Impa, or at least someone with the same name, greets him. Perhaps a relative of hers? Either way, she is Zelda's handmaiden.

A dancer is met, one with flaming red hair. Din by name. She is the Oracle of Seasons. Her seductive form is more than enough to turn grown men into babbling idiots.

_"You've awakened! Good! I worried while you slept! You're Link, right? I am Din."_

A rod with the power to control the weather. It is a tool, not a weapon, which aids him in his quest.

There is a general who wants to control the world. His body armor is thicker than any other, and the man would easily crush the boy.

But the boy is getting older. He is becoming a man, the Legendary Hero spoken of in legend.

The Princess of Destiny is captured by Moblins, but she is saved by the valiant one. With a kiss on the cheek, she leaves him to continue on his journey.

He must find the Essences, four of them.

The Essence of Time.

The Essence of the Sun.

The Soothing Rain.

The Changing Seasons.

After finding them all, the hero treks towards thee general's castle. How long the battle raged is not known, but the sounds of their clashing swords was like thunder, shaking the very pillars of heaven.

When their cries finally fell silent, it was the hero who emerged victorious.

The Oracle is safe, and Holodrum is at peace.

But the boy is still far from home.

He rides his steed hard, wanting nothing more than to see his friends again, to finally rest.

But a hero's work is never finished.

Again, the Triforce beckons to him.

Once more he is fooled.

_"Accept our quest, hero! Save us all…"_

He finds himself in Labrynna, a Hyrulian province now controlled by a mad sorceress.

There is a tree that can speak, and it has a crush on the young lad.

A singer is met, her hair is brightest sapphire. She is Nayru, Oracle of Ages. Her voice is so enchanting, it can sooth even the hardest of hearts, especially that of her protector.

"_Ralph's been at my side for longer than I can remember. It's hard to imagine life without him…"_

Her sister is a girl with emerald hair. They call her Farore, and she is Oracle of Secrets. The hero is helped again and again by her seemingly infinite knowledge.

_"Whenever you hear of a secret, return here and I will reveal it to you…"_

The sorceress desires Nayru's power, and takes control of her body. With the Oracle, she changes time, making herself ruler of the world.

A black tower is under construction. When completed, darkness will reign supreme.

The hero is given a harp. In time, he learns to play it beautifully, and can move back and forth through time.

Yet again he had to rescue the princess, Zelda. It seemed the older she got, the more of a target for evil she became.

To set things right again, he will need eight more Essences.

The Eternal Spirit.

The Ancient Wood

The Echoing Howl

The Burning Flame

The Sacred Soil

The Lonely Peak

The Rolling Sea

The Falling Star

Battling hard, and journeying back and forth through four hundred years of history, he collected them all.

All around him, the world changed as he did more and more good deeds. Families were reunited, and lovers brought together.

In the end, he fought the sorceress.

Her black magic was simply no match for the courage he possessed.

With the Oracle no worse for wear, order returns to Labrynna.

But it isn't finished.

The truth is revealed. Ganon, Lord of Darkness, was behind it all. Veran and Onyx were only his minions, sent to prepare the way for his return. Again two sisters appear, the witches he'd destroyed in anther lifetime have returned.

They have attempted to resurrect their master by lighting the flames of Destruction, Sorrow, and Despair.

Already, two of the flames burn brightly, and Zelda's murder will release Ganon from his dark realm.

Thankfully, Farore, Oracle of Secrets, had removed the Blade of Evil's Bane from its place in the Temple of Time. The Realm is Dark now, and tainted. The blade is no longer a key. She presents it to the young man, who must use the power to repel evil to cleanse Hyrule of injustice.

Immeasurable forces collide as the twin sisters fight against the young Hylian. But fire and ice are no match for the lightning rod that is the Master Sword, a blade enchanted with the very essence of the Goddesses.

Twinrova is defeated and Zelda is saved. But before the evil witches die, they sacrifice themselves in order to ignite the final flame and free their dark lord.

The King of Evil finally appears, in all his sinister glory.

But something is amiss. Since Zelda was not sacrificed, only the body of the evil Ganon was resurrected. However, even with his spirit still trapped in the tainted Sacred Realm, his body still has an incalculable amount of strength and power.

If not stopped, Ganon's earthly form will trample all the innocents of the world into submission.

Hundreds of blows are struck in the ensuing battle. The sounds of their blades crashing against each other were enough to shake the very pillars of heaven.

The broken, bloodied Legendary Hero sees the opening he's been waiting for, and deals a mortal blow with the sacred Master Sword.

Ganon's reign ends before it can begin in a brilliant flash of light and a scattering of ashes. The creature is sent back to the Dark World.

Finally, peace returns to the beleaguered land of Hyrule, and the hero can return to his lovely princess.

But there would be no return. This has been his only reward for involving himself with things larger than himself.

He should have stayed in the forest.

_"It…hurts…"_ Zelda mouthed, doubled over in pain. _"Make it stop…"_

Her body had returned to her, complete with nerve endings.

All of them now were on fire.

The pain was unbearable. Movement was out of the question, it just hurt too much.

She looked down at her hands through the pain. They were bloody and smashed. All her fingers were broken, and it hurt to breathe. There were slash marks all over, on her arms and legs, on her chest and on her back.

Every part of her was in the most extreme pain.

These were not her wounds.

They were Link's.

In time all of them had healed, mostly through magic. But the memory still remained fresh in his mind. Memories of creatures that had bludgeoned him, thrown him against walls, tried to choke the life out of him. Every part of her was slashed in some way, be it from claws or from a blade.

Zelda could feel it, every single bit.

Through sheer determination, she reached around her back and felt around. It brought tears to her eyes to do it, but she could feel a hole right next to her spine.

It hurt so much that she began to flop around in the blackness, screaming with all air left in her lungs. There was nothing else except the color black, yet Zelda could easily see the blood on her dress.

She could feel it cooling on the floor.

She was dying.

It hurt to think, and the invisible floor was frigid. Perfectly ready to die and perfectly insane, Zelda, daughter of King Nohansen the Fourth, Crown Princess of Hyrule stopped moving altogether.

The fact that her many wounds were gone was of no consequence. She just wanted to go to sleep, to let nothing bother her.

The skull-crushing pain was gone, but in a way, it was still there.

None of this had been what she expected.

It didn't matter though anymore. She and Link would both die together, with neither of them getting to tell each other how they felt.

But before the darkness could envelop her, Zelda heard a voice echo in the depths of her psyche.

_"Thank you, my love. I will never forget this. Thank you…"_

**Reality**

The bright light of the Din's Eye shone directly into Zelda's face through an open window, at last bringing her back into the world of the living and the conscious. As she sat up, dizziness quickly plagued her, followed by images swirling round her head.

Something unexpected came after that; laughter.

It was a raucous, whooping laughter, and when everything stopped spinning, the Princess finally laid eyes on the source of the raging guffaws.

Jaden, Zeta, Dreck, Malon and Gonga were all standing around her, leaning on each others shoulders, laughing with tears of joy. People were hugging, knees were being slapped and everyone was jumping up and down.

"Ugh…" Zelda groaned. "What's going on?"

The huge Goron answered the question by picking her off the ground and giving her a bear hug, lifting her high in the air.

"_You're alive!_" he yelled, squeezing the air out of Zelda. She coughed and sputtered and squirmed, trying to get free.

When Gonga realized what he was doing, he promptly put her down.

"Oops, sorry Princess," he apologized. "Didn't mean to. We're all just a bit happy that none of us have to be hanged for causing your untimely death, is all."

"That's uh…that's okay…" she said back, holding her ribcage.

She was a still a little bit disoriented, but she shrugged it off and regained her bearings. Zelda turned around, expecting to see Link sleeping peacefully in the straw. To her great surprise, he wasn't there at all, having perhaps magically vanished, or at worst, already dead and buried.

The only thing there was the armor that she had taken off earlier.

It just sat there, waiting for her to pick it up.

Just as Zelda was about to grab it, a hand reached out to stop her.

"Can I help you with that, Princess?" asked Link. "It would be unladylike for you to have to put that on all by yourself."

His light tone of voice stunned her, considering all he had just been through. Instead of being sick, the hero seemed to be quite healthy. An overwhelming feeling of relief washed over the Princess as she laid eyes upon him. The brightness had returned to his eyes along with the redness in his cheeks.

Link was perfectly fine, thanks to her.

Then and there, something remarkable happened to them both. The experiences they had just shared gave them a new lease on life, and the power to change the world. Whatever this new feeling was, it felt really good.

It was joy, a pure and unbridled sense of joy.

"You're…you're really here," Zelda said incredulously.

"Well, of course! Where else would I be?" he replied, raising an eyebrow. "You gave me quite a scare with you lying on the floor all passed out like that. I think you should be more careful."

The Princess frowned at him, half in jest and half seriously.

"Really Link, you're not funny," she grumbled. "You nearly die and I have to go out of my way to rescue you and then I don't even get a 'thank you'."

This time he just stared at her, peering into her soul with his cobalt blue eyes.

"But I did…" he whispered into her ear.

"I know," Zelda answered. "I know…"

Link proceeded to help the Princess to her feet. Dusting herself off, Zelda gave him the honor of letting him latch her silver armor back on. He enjoyed himself greatly, and wrapped his arms around her rather seductively so.

That prompted several jealous glares from Malon, who was watching them like a hawk.

They would not be getting a discount on the horses, or the supplies.

**The next day: outside the ranch**

Everything was wonderful and in its right state of affairs, for Link's party at least. The ranch itself had suffered considerable damage, and they had all spent the past three days repairing it. Malon had forced them all to rectify the situation by gathering up all the Moblin corpses and properly burning them, outside the ranch's perimeter of course in Hyrule Field. She then made them all, even Princess Zelda, clean and re-sod the ruined grass, as well as repair the fences and the farmhouse.

At last, though, everyone had his or her own horse. That is, everyone except Gonga. He would roll wherever they needed to go.

They had plenty of provisions, their canteens were full, and Link had gotten his tunic mended.

Malon was running a business, so they weren't free of charge. Seeing as they had only ten rupees between them, the Princess had to give up her golden crown for horses and supplies. Not only that, but out of the kindness of her heart Malon gave Zelda a good pair of thigh high boots. The red-headed woman did not divulge that fact that she had, some weeks earlier, used that same pair of boots whilst shoveling both cow and horse manure.

It had been a fair trade.

On top of her splendid white horse, Zelda rode up next to the Legendary Hero.

"Now that you're in good health, where are we headed to next?" she asked him.

He scratched his head for a moment, not really knowing the answer.

"Well, we have to warn all the races, just in case Gorkhan tries another stunt," Zelda said thoughtfully. "It's either the Gorons or the Zoras, and I've always been partial to the Lake."

When she finished her sentence, the hero's face turned stark white. He backed Epona away from her, shaking his head the entire time.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, I mean the Zora are very antisocial and such and we wouldn't want to bother them is all," he said very quickly.

The Princess narrowed her eyes at him until they were slits.

She called to her attendant.

"_Jaden! Come here!_" she bellowed.

A moment or so later, the boy appeared.

"Yes Majesty?" said the boy as he rode up to her.

"Give me your dagger and a rupee," Zelda ordered.

He fished around in his saddlebag and pulled out one green rupee and handed the Princess his rusty dagger. He watched in amazement as Zelda carved into one flat side a single notch and on the other two notches.

She held up the rupee for Link to see.

"One scratch and we go to Kakariko," she slyly whispered. "Two scratches and we go to Lake Hylia."

With that, she tossed it high into the air. It twirled a few times, then plummeted to the earth, landing in the short grass.

Jaden got off his horse and searched for the rupee.

He quickly located it in the short grass.

"Yeah. it landed on two," said the Sheikah, neither understanding nor caring about the point of this little ritual.

Princess Zelda wore a grin that went from ear to ear. To be mean and irritating, she stuck her tongue out at Link, turned her mount to the south and rode off.

"_Lake Hylia it is!_" the Princess yelled as the others began to follow her.

The hero slumped over in his saddle. It was happening again.

He was about to do something else he would regret.

**End Chapter Four**

_**Proceed to Chapter Five!**_


End file.
